ROLAND GARROS

June 7, 2021

Lorenzo Musetti

Press Conference

N. DJOKOVIC/L. Musetti

6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 6-0, 4-0 [Ret.]

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How do you sort of balance being happy that you took two sets off of the No. 1 player in the world and disappointed that you weren't able to finish it? What are sort of your takeaways from today?

LORENZO MUSETTI: Yeah, I mean, for me was a fantastic experience. I was playing, I think, my best tennis, for sure. I have never played like today.

The first two sets were really long, like, two hours and, I don't know, more than two hours. Of course I'm a little bit disappointed, but I played I think against No. 1 in the world, and I took him, like, the first two sets. I mean, he started play really good, and then I had some problems with my physical part. Yeah, I think I have to work there.

Of course the match with Cecchinato, I mean, was like five sets, three hours, and was really tough, was really intense. Maybe if I have played like three sets instead of five today were different. But, I mean, you cannot compare.

I'm happy with this week and with the tennis that I have showed today.

Q. Did you have some kind of injury, or was it just simply the physical toll of the match?

LORENZO MUSETTI: No, no, no, it's not an injury. It's, well, just a little bit of cramps and a little bit of low back pain. I was not anymore able to win a point, and so was not really -- grateful also for the crowd that was there, so I decided to retire.

There was no chance that I could win a point, so I decided to retire because I think it was the best thing to do it.

Q. Of course you might be disappointed a little bit, and now you might be quite tired, but at the same time you proved that you can fight like a five-setter and you can compete against No. 1. So what are you going to take away from this tournament? What did you find out about yourself in this tournament?

LORENZO MUSETTI: Yeah, of course I came here to play my first Grand Slam in the main draw, and I made second week taking two sets against the No. 1 in the world.

I think I took away a lot of feelings, a lot of emotions, but a lot of experience. Now I know how can I play, how far I am from the biggest in the tour, like Nole, so I know that if I play good I can stay at this level.

Yeah, I will go home, rest a bit, and work for Wimbledon.

Q. So you just mentioned it, and that is Wimbledon. This will be your first Wimbledon. I'm wondering, what are your expectations both in terms of playing on the grass, competing on the grass, and just for what everything Wimbledon stands for and kind of what have you imagined it to be in your life?

LORENZO MUSETTI: Yeah, I mean, Wimbledon for sure is my favorite slam. I played one time juniors one, and I was feeling really comfortable and I liked a lot the grass. I hope it's gonna be the same.

I know every tournament is not going to be like this one, so especially in the Grand Slam. So, yeah, I will try to do my best and try to reach the second week like here. But I'm not promising nothing (smiling). Let's see, and then we will talk.

Q. I remember an interview you gave where you said you were ready to surprise during clay court season. After finishing this clay court season with fourth round in a Grand Slam, even with some ups and downs, how do you evaluate this season?

LORENZO MUSETTI: I think I'm doing really good almost every week. You know, when you have best ranking every week, I think you are doing good.

I started from top 100 in Acapulco -- after Acapulco, sorry, and now I think I'm going to be like 60 in the world. So even with the frozen ranking that is not easy to go higher, I'm making a lot of points. I know that I'm like 19 in the race this year, so, yeah, I think it's a really good season for me at the moment.

But we are at the halfway, so let's see the other half how it's going to end.