Lorenzo Musetti on Carlos Alcaraz: "His advent motivated me to strengthen my game and character a little more"

Italian tennis sensation Lorenzo Musetti has heaped praise on his rival Carlos Alcaraz.

Alcaraz and Musetti recently met in the Hamburg Open title bout back in July. In a thrilling three-set match, the Italian stormed past Alcaraz to win his first tour-level title. Since then, their feud has been regarded as one of the tour's promised rivalries in the near future.

In an interview with Eurosport, Musetti spoke about the young Spaniard. He expressed genuine happiness that Alcaraz is the World No.1 and claimed that Alcaraz's arrival on the tour "motivated" him to improve a bit on both his game and his character.

"Honestly I am very happy for him. The fact that Carlos Alcaraz is number 1 in the world is incredible for him but also for me. On the one hand, because we are very good friends. On the other, because his advent helped me to stimulate myself even more. It motivated me to strengthen my game and character a little bit more to achieve great things in the near future," Musetti said.

Speaking about the ATP Tour's Next Gen stars, which include Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Holger Rune, and himself, Lorenzo Musetti, stated that he believes they have accomplished "great things" and will continue to do so in the future.

"We represent the future of tennis but I believe that now we are also the present. Each of us is already able to achieve great things and I believe that the more time passes the more we will be able to do it," Lorenzo Musetti said.

The Italian confessed that the players named above are better than him and that there will be a big rivalry between them soon, which he hopes to be a part of.

"For now, the players you mentioned are better than me. We can expect a big rivalry between them in the coming years. I too hope to be part of that future. And I'm working hard for that," he further acknowledged.

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"This somewhat 'ugly' defeat hurt me" - Lorenzo Musetti on his Paris Masters' defeat to Novak Djokovic

Lorenzo Musetti in action at the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Lorenzo Musetti had a good showing at the 2022 ATP Masters. He defeated Marin Cilic, Nikoloz Basilashvili, and Casper Ruud en route to reaching his first Masters quarterfinals. The 20-year-old, however, was unable to defeat defending champion Novak Djokovic in the clash of the last eight.

In the same interview, he discussed his loss against the Serb and stated it was an "ugly" defeat, which upset him given his recent form. He said, though, that he intended to resume his journey in its entirety as soon as possible.

"This somewhat 'ugly' defeat hurt me because it doesn't really reflect what I've shown in recent weeks. Maybe there was a little too much expectation about this match that I couldn't handle, and Djokovic was very good at taking away all the certainties I thought I had about my game. It's up to me to resume my journey as soon as possible," Lorenzo Musetti said.

Musetti is currently playing in the Next Gen ATP Finals and will next lock horns with Jack Draper in a group stage clash.