Musetti: ‘It’s Not Finished Until You Shake Hands’

Lorenzo Musetti is known for his brand of entertaining and flashy shot-making every time he steps onto the tennis court. The 21-year-old Italian is the top seed at this year’s edition of the Sofia Open. As Musetti has risen up the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, he has often received more media attention and spotlight as one of the best young prospects of his generation.

Compared to his previous experiences of pre-tournament press conferences, this one in Sofia had a different twist to it. Musetti took the time to engage with fun questions asked by young kids on Tuesday.

One of the kids asked him how he maintains his focus in the middle of losing a game. Musetti was honest in his assessment of himself.

“Not every game, unfortunately, I maintain the best focus. I am not the best on Tour with that.” He later added, “I am working very hard to practice that, which is really important especially from a young age like yours.”

He went on to offer his wisdom and elaborated by stating a quote that rings true based on his experiences in matches, “It’s not finished until you shake hands.”

When asked which player inspired him as a tennis player, he cited the Swiss Maestro Roger Federer.

“I had the chance to meet him and to play with him in practice,” Musetti said. “For me it was something really important and was sort of reaching a goal and dream.”

He directed his attention to all the kids in the room and added, “I hope you guys can reach your dreams in the future.”

Another question asked to Lorenzo was about his favourite tournament to compete in. Amused by the question, he replied, “Besides Sofia (laughter), I will probably say Rome and Monte-Carlo in terms of the crowd.”

He described the Italian crowd in Rome as “passionate and able to transport you to a different level of emotion in terms of the energy they give you”.

He added, “If I have to choose one Grand Slam, I will probably choose Wimbledon. There is no tournament in terms of elegance and history that’s better than Wimbledon.”

The World No. 27 addressed all the kids in the room and remarked “hopefully one day, one of you guys can play there. It is probably the temple of tennis.”