After a standout season in 2022, Lorenzo Musetti is poised to take his young career even higher. And the 20-year-old is already learning valuable lessons on the road.

“An important part of our career is to try to put experience in our luggage that we carry,” Musetti told ATPTour.com.

The Italian is rapidly rising to the top of the sport and is gaining profitable experience against the world’s best. After collecting two Tour-level titles this past year, he qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals and is now at a career-high No. 19 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Perhaps no time last season was more memorable than when Musetti won a thrilling three-set battle against Carlos Alcaraz to claim the ATP 500 event in Hamburg.

“The week I lifted my first trophy in Hamburg, I won the first match against [Dusan] Lajovic after saving two match points. I was not coming from a good period,” Musetti said. “I had four straight losses, it wasn’t easy. But when you work hard, have patience, and sacrifice yourself, it pays off.”

Another key moment came when Musetti didn’t drop a set all week en route to his title run on home soil in Naples, where he defeated countryman Matteo Berrettini in the final.

Musetti, who is the youngest Italian in the Top 100, isn’t folding to any pressure or expectations. Instead, he’s soaking up every teachable moment on Tour.

“I feel more mature and [I’ve gained] more experience,” Musetti said. “I played many matches this past season, it was tough but fun. I think I improved a lot.

“[I’ve learned] when you make mistakes, you can always find positives to do better next time. If you understand that, you’re going to find a new solution the next time. That’s an important mindset for me.”

Add that newfound mental fortitude to his heavy topspin forehand and lethal one-handed backhand is what makes Musetti a dangerous player. Currently the third highest-ranked Italian, the Carrara native is hungry to soar to new heights this season.

“I did pretty well in 2022 but I want to go higher and higher,” Musetti said. “I’m working hard for it. I think I have the potential and game to do it. I will try my best to break into the Top 10.”

Musetti, who finished 2022 with a 34-29 record, aims to open the new year on a strong note at the Australian Open. Should he get past Lloyd Harris in the opening round, it will be Musetti’s first main draw victory at the season’s first Slam.

Roberto Carballes Baena was practising inside John Cain Arena Thursday afternoon with Italian star Jannik Sinner. The pair trained for two hours before taking a five-minute break ahead of point play. During that brief stop, the Spaniard checked his phone, on which he noticed an unpleasant surprise.

Carballes Baena received a Twitter message that he would be facing nine-time champion Novak Djokovic in the first round of the Australian Open.

“For sure it is something that when I saw the draw, it was tough in one way,” Carballes Baena told ATPTour.com. “But in the other way it’s a very good experience for me. I think [Rod Laver Arena is] one of the best courts in the world so I will try to enjoy, I will try to give my best and I will try to do a good match.”

It is not the first time Carballes Baena has faced Djokovic at a Grand Slam. The Serbian triumphed 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 against him in the first round of the 2019 US Open.

“The first five, 10 minutes I was a little bit nervous. It was very different. It was like a movie. It is like they have a [clapper] and you have to start to play now. But after five or 10 minutes you start to focus on your game, try to give your best,” Carballes Baena. “I think maybe I know him a little bit more than the first time. I saw him so many times on TV but I didn’t play against him. I know that he’s very good in everything but I think I have more of an idea how to play.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Roberto Carballes Baena (@robertocarballes)

That is because the Spaniard has become a practice partner for Djokovic when the former World No. 1 spends time in Marbella, about an hour’s drive from Carballes Baena’s home.

“For me it’s great. It’s something very good. I try to play with the best players and he’s probably one of the best of history,” Carballes Baena said. “You try to learn about his shots, his shots are very clean. He plays very good from everywhere. He serves very good, he returns unbelievable, he has a good backhand, so he’s very, very good in everything.”

Carballes Baena also knows that feeling comfortable training with Djokovic is different from doing so in a match. The best are able to raise their level in the heat of competition.

“It’s different. The nerves before the match, when you start you have to be very, very focussed and in practice it’s different,” Carballes Baena said. “You are trying to learn every day, you are trying something different. But when you start a match in a tournament like this you are a little bit nervous and you try to give your best.”

The 29-year-old will try to embrace the moment, too. It is a match like this the Spaniard has worked towards since beginning his tennis journey aged two.

Carballes Baena’s father, Pio, did not have a tennis background from a young age. But when living in London, he began to play “a lot” and then moved to Tenerife for two years. There, Pio did not work, choosing to focus on tennis. He never turned professional, but the sport became a big part of his life. Carballes Baena passed on his love for tennis to Roberto.

“After [that] I started to take some lessons and I started to play with some kids,” Carballes Baena recalled. “I liked it a lot. I wanted to play all the time. I went to school and then I went to the club and stayed all the afternoon there and that’s it.”

His passion remains with him to this day. According to his countryman Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, with whom he won an ATP Tour doubles title in 2020, his dedication shows on and off the court.

“I know him very well since a lot of years, maybe since 2015, ‘16. One thing is that he’s always very humble,” Davidovich Fokina said. “He fights a lot on court and he always wants to do more, he wants to improve every time that he practises or plays in a match or is in the gym. He’s a fighter.”

Once a boy waiting for school to end so he could play tennis, Carballes Baena has another opportunity to compete on one of the biggest stages in sports. He will play Djokovic on Tuesday evening inside Rod Laver Arena. The first time he stepped on the Melbourne centre court was after the draw came out.

“I think it’s something different,” Carballes Baena said. “Arthur Ashe was huge. When you go to the court, you see the court and you think that it’s very, very big. This one, I don’t know. It’s a little bit different.

“It’s a special match… I will try to give my best and I will try to have some chances.”

The third episode of Netflix’s Break Point takes fans behind the scenes of a dramatic moment for American Taylor Fritz before the biggest match of his career.

The California native suffered a freak ankle injury during his warmup for the 2022 BNP Paribas Open final. Struggling to put any weight on his right foot, Fritz described it as ‘one of the worst pains I have ever felt’.

Fritz’s coaching team, which consists of Michael Russell, Paul Annacone and physio Wolfgang Oswald, advised the American to not play the championship clash to ensure no further damage to his ankle.

Fritz elected to play and defeated all-time great Rafael Nadal in straight sets to win his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title. Annacone spoke with ATPTour.com about his fond, and perhaps stressful, memories from that day.

“I remember we were walking back into the players’ lounge before the match and Taylor turned to us and said, ‘Guys, I’m really sorry I’m such a pain in the a**, but I just won’t be able to sleep at night if I don’t walk on the court,’” Annacone recalled. “I think Michael and I said, ‘Taylor, it’s your body. Do what you think you need to do, but we’re telling you what we think you should do.’”

The-then 24-year-old already had made up his mind. He could not fathom the thought of not stepping onto the court with a chance to win the tournament he grew up dreaming of winning. Annacone arrived in the players’ box and baked in the desert sun as he watched Fritz defeat the Spaniard 6-3, 7-6(5).

“I wasn’t nervous at all,” Annacone said. “My big thing was I didn’t want him to walk on the court and then walk off after one game. First he said, ‘If it hurts, I’ll just walk off the court’. And I was like, ‘No, there’s 17,000 people there, I don’t want you to just walk off the court! Let’s make an educated decision before that.’ Once I saw him move around after he got treatment, I felt like he was going to be able to play, I just didn’t know how well.

“Once he got on court, I felt the worst thing that could happen is he’s not going to play well, lose 2-6, 1-6, and he’s going to have a sore ankle.”

Although Fritz concluded his dream run at Indian Wells with the trophy, Annacone admitted that he would still chime in as a voice of reason should a similar injury happen.

“I view it as an amazing time and I’d still do the same thing,” Annacone said. “I’d say the same exact stuff and recommend that he not play. My biggest fear with stuff like that is the player doesn’t learn the right message. Just because you do it this time, doesn’t mean you do it all the time.”

Annacone has worn many hats within pro tennis. He rose to No. 12 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and won 14 tour-level doubles titles before coaching legends Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. He has been around the block and seen it all. One experience Annacone will never forget was when Sampras collected his seventh Wimbledon title despite spending hours on the couch that fortnight due to an injury.

“I was with Pete when he won Wimbledon in 2000, which then broke the record for all-time majors and he couldn’t hit on any off days until the day before the final,” Annacone said. “He had something going on with his shin. He didn’t even warm up for any matches. He’d walk on the court, play a match, and not do anything until two days later. For that moment, that was the right thing for Pete to do, he was trying to break the all-time record.

“As long as the player learns from that stuff, then I’m fine. Taylor gets stubborn, he’ll do that and then think that’s the norm. That’s what I didn’t want to come out of Indian Wells, and I don’t think it did. I think he learned a lot about himself.”

Fritz’s first Masters 1000 title? Check. A lesson learned for the American? Annacone hopes that has been checked off as well.

Bryan Shelton competed in the Australian Open main draw six times in singles during his career. But perhaps his most notable moment in Melbourne came off the court. One year, the American was in the lobby of the Como Hotel when he met a woman named Lisa, the sister of colleague Todd Witsken.

This year, Bryan and Lisa’s son, Ben Shelton, is playing in the Australian Open for the first time.

“I think that would be a cool place to see,” the younger Shelton told ATPTour.com of the Como Hotel, cracking a laugh.

Shelton is one of the hottest prospects on the circuit. The lefty was even invited to participate in Australian Open Kids Tennis Day alongside superstars like Ashleigh Barty, Iga Swiatek, Nick Kyrgios and more.

What might surprise you is that the No. 92 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is on his first trip outside the United States. Why?

“I was asking my dad about playing some ITFs or playing outside the country [in the juniors] and he asked me if I was the best player in the United States,” Shelton recalled. “I told him, ‘No, I’m not.’ And he said, ‘So why would we go to another country when you’re not the best player here?’

“I think it was pretty good advice looking back at it and I’m getting all those experiences now, so I’m pretty happy with how things went.”

Shelton certainly picked a doozy for his first international trip, flying across the world to Australia. Before departing for his first tournament of the year in Adelaide, the longest flight he had taken was six hours from Miami to San Francisco.

“The timing ended up that we left around 10, 11 p.m. from LA and I landed at 8 a.m. in Australia, so I was able to sleep most of the flight and take it like a normal night of sleep. It wasn’t too bad,” Shelton said, cracking a smile. “Maybe a little bit [nervous] about how my body was going to react after the flight, but I wasn’t too nervous about actually flying.

“I told myself I was going to try to sleep most of the time and that seemed to be the easiest way to try to pass the time. That was the goal and I did a pretty good job.”

The American admitted if he had to redo anything, he would have flown over a few days earlier to give himself extra time to prepare before his first match. But Shelton knows he is going through a learning process, taking new lessons on board every day during his first full season as a professional.

“I’m really excited to be out here full time,” Shelton said. “Hopefully meet some awesome people, make some good friendships. I love playing tennis and competing so I hope it’s going to be a really fun year.”

Shelton, a former standout student-athlete for the University of Florida, turned pro just before last year’s US Open after an impressive stretch during which he excelled on the ATP Challenger Tour and defeated Lorenzo Sonego and Casper Ruud in Cincinnati. In 2022, the American lifted three Challenger trophies in as many weeks to complete his season and crack the world’s Top 100.

During the offseason, he returned to Gainesville to train with his former teammates and his father, who is the team’s head coach.

“We have a group chat that we all text in pretty much every day, so I’m still really close with the team. I talk to them all the time,” Shelton said. “I trained with the team in Gainesville and got a lot of good work done with them and my dad, so things went well. I thought I got better on the court and off the court, in the gym. So I’m happy with how things went.”

Although Shelton is now physically removed from school, he is continuing his education. The 20-year-old is taking two online classes: entrepreneurship and international business.

“I often have time in the evenings when my day is over, so it hasn’t been too difficult to find time. Two classes is a pretty light schedule, so it hasn’t been too much of a struggle,” Shelton said. “Definitely nice to have something outside of tennis that I can dive into or spend time doing, not become too one-tracked.”

The American has been preparing for his first Australian Open, where he will face China’s Zhang Zhizhen in the first round, so he has not had much time to explore Melbourne.

“I definitely want to go see some animals,” Shelton said, before cracking yet another smile. “I don’t know if it’s at a zoo, but I want to see some koalas or kangaroos, something like that. I think that would be really cool.”

The Como Hotel is on his list, too.

The opening day of Grand Slam action for 2023 features a host of star names looking to make an early statement at the Australian Open. Top 10 stars Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev are all in action, when a trio of home favourites are also hoping to make their mark on Monday in Melbourne.

ATPTour.com looks at some of the biggest clashes on the Day 1 schedule.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw

[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Jack Draper (GBR)

Defending champion and top seed Nadal arrives at Melbourne Park in a relative slump by his own lofty standards. The Spaniard has lost six of his past seven matches and faces a difficult proposition first up in Melbourne in fast-rising Briton Jack Draper. Yet Nadal knows as well as anyone how to rouse his best level at a Grand Slam — the 36-year-old is chasing a record-extending 23rd major title this fortnight in Australia.

“[It is] probably one of the toughest first rounds possible, being seeded,” acknowledged Nadal when asked about the Draper clash. “[He is] young, powerful, growing very, very fast in the rankings, playing well… [It is] a big challenge for me at the beginning to start the tournament. Let’s see. I’m here to just give myself a chance.”

Draper reached his second ATP Tour semi-final last week at the Adelaide International 2 and the big-hitting lefty is considered one of the game’s brightest prospects. With little to lose in his maiden ATP Head2Head meeting against one of the greats of the sport, the 21-year-old is ready to relish the occasion when he steps out onto Rod Laver Arena.

“It’ll be amazing to play on court with him, he’s a great champion,” said Draper of Nadal. “[There are] a lot of emotions obviously when I think of playing him… Whatever happens, it’ll be a special occasion for me, still very young in my career, so it’s great to have these sort of experiences and exposure to playing someone like Rafa on a big court like that.”

[3] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. Quentin Halys (FRA)

There is a little extra on the line for World No. 4 Tsitsipas as he bids for his maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne. Should he lift the trophy, the 24-year-old will also rise to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time.

If that is to happen, though, Tsitsipas will have to start by defeating Quentin Halys for the first time in three attempts. Although they have never faced off in a tour-level match, Halys defeated the Greek in an ITF Futures match in 2014 and an ATP Challenger Tour match in 2018. The 26-year-old Frenchman Halys has other reasons to feel confident — he currently sits at a career-high No. 64 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and pushed Novak Djokovic to two tie-breaks in Adelaide two weeks ago, with the Serbian later saying Halys was playing ‘like a Top 10 opponent’.

Nonetheless, Tsitsipas will hope that the support of Melbourne’s considerable Greek community can spur him to another strong performance at an event where he reached the semi-finals in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

[6] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs. Vasek Pospisil (CAN)

A fifth tour-level meeting between Auger-Aliassime and his fellow Canadian Pospisil promises plenty of huge serving and forehand action on Kia Arena. The sixth-seeded Auger-Aliassime leads his countryman 3-1 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series, but the 32-year-old Pospisil triumphed in straight sets in their most recent meeting, in 2020 in Vienna.

Auger-Aliassime reached the quarter-finals for the first time in Melbourne a year ago before falling to Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller. That run kick-started a stellar season for the 22-year-old in which he won his first four ATP Tour titles and qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. Can he bring his best to the big stage again against Pospisil on Monday?

[7] Daniil Medvedev vs. Marcos Giron (USA)

Medvedev will hope his clash with World No. 56 Giron is just the start of another strong run at Melbourne Park. The 26-year-old reached the championship match in 2021 and 2022, and despite falling just short of the title with defeats to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, respectively, Medvedev’s combination of big serving and outstanding defence is more than capable of powering another deep run.

The seventh seed won his only previous tour-level clash with Giron at the Western & Southern Open in 2020. The American is making his fourth consecutive Australian Open main draw appearance, but he is yet to reach the second round. He has posted some impressive results on Tour since last year’s visit to Melbourne, however, including reaching his first final in San Diego, and he arrives in Australia off the back of a quarter-final run in Auckland.

Also In Action…

A trio of home wild cards will seek to channel the support of the locals in their first-round matches on Monday. Jason Kubler was unbeaten for Team Australia at the recent United Cup, where he downed Daniel Evans and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and the World No. 86 will look to build on that form against Sebastian Baez. John Millman takes on big-serving lefty Marc-Andrea Huesler, while Rinky Hijikata plays qualifier Yannick Hanfmann.

Fresh from guiding Team Poland on a run to the United Cup semi-finals alongside WTA World No. 1 Iga Swiatek, 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz starts his Australian Open campaign against Spaniard Pedro Martinez. The Pole has never been past the second round in Melbourne, while 11th seed Cameron Norrie’s best previous run was a third-round showing in 2021. The Briton also takes to court on Monday against #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche.

One man who has plenty of experience of going deep into the Melbourne draw is 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka. He takes on Alex Molcan in his first Australian Open match since 2021 after missing last year due to injury. The 2018 semi-finalist Kyle Edmund also makes his Melbourne Park comeback. The Briton last competed at the hard-court Slam in 2020, and he faces a daunting opening test in 15th seed and 2022 quarter-finalist Jannik Sinner.

Other seeded players in action Monday include Frances Tiafoe, who takes on Daniel Altmaier, Lorenzo Musetti, who meets Lloyd Harris, and Sebastian Korda, who starts against Cristian Garin.

When fans tuned into Break Point – Netflix’s groundbreaking new tennis series – for the first time following its release on Friday, they were greeted with an opening episode centered around Nick Kyrgios.

The first episode followed the 27-year-old’s progress at the 2022 Australian Open, focusing on his dramatic run to the doubles title alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis. Speaking about the Netflix series ahead of this year’s Australian Open, Kyrgios hopes and believes the show will be a success.

“It’s massive opportunity for my brand to get out there,” Kyrgios said when asked about the series. “It’s just so important for tennis. I think we’ve got so many great personalities, so many young personalities, and so many colourful athletes. Frances, Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, these guys are great tennis players and great people as well.

“I think when the big three kind of settle down and end up retiring, it’s so important that these guys are on showcase globally. Tennis is one of the most global sports in the world. We need it to be successful.”

Kyrgios will lead home hopes at the Australian Open in the next fortnight, starting his campaign against Roman Safiullin. With his focus on the first major of the season, the World No. 21 admitted that he has yet to watch Break Point.

However, Kyrgios is looking forward to tuning in over the coming weeks, admitting he was proud to be part of the series.

“I’m definitely a fun kid who grew up in a very quiet sort of town with my family. It’s obviously pretty cool to see how far I’ve come,” Kyrgios said. “But I think the later episodes as well, following me around Wimbledon, that type of stuff, will be super exciting.

“I’m just glad that tennis is on the map again. I think it’s one of the main talking points, one of the biggest sports right now, obviously with the Netflix documentary dropping.”

Magnus Norman is not just a former World No. 2, but one the most prominent coaches of this generation. The Swede helped guide Stan Wawrinka to three Grand Slam titles and No. 3 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

After time apart, Norman reunited with Wawrinka last year. ATPTour.com spoke with the Swede ahead of the Australian Open about Wawrinka’s epic series of matches against Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park, helping the Swiss find his best form and more.

It’s been 10 years since Stan and Novak started a series of Australian Open matches. How fast has time flown since then?
It’s amazing, it feels like a couple years ago. You look back and you see that he turned pro in 2002, 20 years ago, time flies. You have to make the best of it every day, that’s what I tell the young players who are coming up and what Stan is telling the younger generation of Swiss players as well. You’re 16 or 17 then all of a sudden you’re 24 or 25. You need to make every day count.

Does Stan still play because he enjoys the game and wants to take advantage of these moments?
I definitely think so. He loves the training, the life, the preparing. He likes to play tennis and compete. He put so much effort in to try and come back after a tough couple years with injuries. It’s not easy to come back, you see a lot of guys struggling to find the level again. But Stan, within the last couple months has really been picking up and he’s at the level now where I see him [hit] the ball so well and he’s fit. That was the goal for the last couple years he has left, to try and compete and play at his best level.

When coming back to that level, is it more physical or mental?
In his case, I think both. First, physical having the foot injury, it took a lot of time. Then when you start playing tennis again, you’re happy you’re on the court but then you have to perform again. That’s when the mental part comes in. I admire his working habit every day, the work he puts in after so many years.

Is it almost more fun now to see him still working hard despite how much he’s already accomplished?
In one way, yes. It will never be the same as it was 10 years ago. Our personalities have changed. But in a way, yes it’s more enjoyable. He won three Grand Slams, Olympic gold, Davis Cup, amazing career. He basically won everything. From my point of view as a coach, I tell Stan he should play tennis when he wants to, when he feels good. Try to enjoy it as much as possible the last couple years, that’s my input to him.

What’s the next step for Stan to not just play well, but also compete at the biggest tournaments?
I think he has the tennis, fitness, and mentality in place. I’m happy with where he’s at now. He beat [Casper] Ruud in Basel last year, had match points against [Holger] Rune in Paris. Those guys are top players, so I think he has everything to beat the top guys. From the physical aspect, as you get older the recovery takes a bit longer so you have to keep that in mind, play and practice a little smarter.

What’s the biggest difference from when you first started with him?
He’s the same guy. He developed his game a lot, he can go to the net more, his returns are improving every month now. We said that at practice the other day, that he feels more comfortable hitting the returns instead of blocking it. He has more variety in his game. He’s been moving so well the past couple years.

What do you remember from that match against Novak in 2013?
Stan’s shot-making abilities. He could play winners from basically anywhere in the court, from both forehand and backhand, whether he was far back or inside the court. That he could go head-to-head with the top players, like Novak, from the back of the court. That’s what I remember from that match. When we started working together, he was a good player and so we spoke about how to not only play good and to compete against those guys, but to win against those guys.

What was the key?
Try to use his physical abilities a little bit more. Even if he was going to be a shotmaker, try to play the bigger points with more margins. Trust his fitness to play longer rallies. Small things like that made a big difference in the end.

How much has his fitness played a role in why he’s still finding success?
It’s a big reason for sure. He worked with Pierre Paganini for so many years and it’s paid off. A couple of good training blocks a year, he doesn’t overtrain.

Are you still impressed with the shotmaking talent he has?
For sure. It’s going to be tough to coach anybody after him. The way he plays and practices, he would never say no to practising. If I say ten more forehands, he says okay let’s do it.

What’s the craziest Stan work ethic story?
I remember the first couple years when we had some training blocks together. Most of the time we’d start with fitness and then fitness and tennis together. Towards the end of the block, we’d focus more on just tennis. I will always remember those key sessions with Stan and Pierre where we did a couple hours of fitness and then straight to tennis.

What is a success to you at this point?
First of all, he still enjoys practising and competing. Also that’s he injury-free. Him being happy and he likes to play tournaments.