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Lorenzo Musetti Paints His Masterpiece

12:07 PM EDT on July 29, 2022

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By Giri Nathan

[vc_empty_space height="15px"]Maybe it’s a little on the nose for this visually inclined mag to pledge allegiance to a visually alluring brand of tennis, but once you’ve seen it, there’s no unseeing Lorenzo Musetti’s game. (If you haven’t yet seen it, quit these words for a highlight reel.) When Musetti is at his best, he sinks deep into the clay and lets that smooth and sinuous baseline game do all the work. He handles high balls with incredible ease. His unremarkable serve ensures that the points can take on a narrative arc. That one-handed backhand has already obsoleted Denis Shapovalov’s as the most telegenic of his generation. And his inventive shot selection can leave the viewer as wrong-footed as the opponent. He’s one of those players where you just hope the tennis might someday be as effective as it is entertaining; that gap can be tantalizing and infuriating. But now that the 20-year-old emerged from last weekend with his first ATP title, that hope has been fed.