On Sunday, rising star Lorenzo Musetti said he was eager to make a mark in his debut at the Tata Open Maharashtra tennis tournament, which begins on Monday.
At South Asia’s only ATP 250 event at the Balewadi Stadium, the 19-year-old second seed will be among the title contenders in the men’s singles event.
“I’m here to win matches,” in a virtual press conference on Sunday, Musetti said, “I will try to regain the confidence I used to have.”
In addition to top players like World No. 15 Aslan Karatsev and defending champion Jiri Vesely, he is likely to face tough competition.
Musetti lost in the first round of both the Adelaide 1 and Australian Open events of the season.
“I played two good matches against two really good opponents. They played their best tennis and both matches were close,” he said.
Musetti, who is a Roger Federer fan, has a strong single-handed backhand, which he says came naturally to him.
Musetti had a successful 2021 where he broke into the top-100, made his Grand Slam debut and had two sets lead over World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in a match at the French Open but retired in the fifth set. It was one of the highlights of his career.
“It helped me to understand a lot, like how I can be at that level and how I can reach there with my game. Particularly for a young player who is entering the tour, it was useful. “I hope to reach that level again and play many matches like that,” Musetti concluded.
The tournament will run until February 6.
