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Lorenzo Musetti has delivered one of the finest performances of his career, defeating defending champion and world No. 2 Alexander Zverev to advance to the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The 22-year-old Italian prevailed 7-6(1), 6-4, sealing a historic result in front of a raucous home crowd at Rome’s Centre Court.
Musetti’s flair and resilience were on full display. In the opening set, he twice came back from a break down and saved four set points before dominating the tiebreak 7-1. In the second, he broke Zverev at 4-4 and held serve with confidence to close out the match after just over two hours of play.
This victory places Musetti in elite company: he’s now the first Italian ever to reach the semifinals of Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome in the same year—an achievement previously matched only by legends like Djokovic, Nadal, and Murray. With this result, he will climb to at least No. 8 in the ATP rankings, setting a new career high.
Up next: Carlos Alcaraz. The semifinal showdown is scheduled for Friday, May 16, not before 3:30 PM local time. The Spaniard leads their head-to-head 4–1, although Musetti won their first meeting in Hamburg in 2022. Their most recent encounter in Monte Carlo saw Alcaraz win in three sets after Musetti was hampered by injury.
So far in Rome, Musetti has defeated Virtanen (6-3 6-2), Nakashima (6-4 6-3), Medvedev (7-5 6-4), and now Zverev. Friday’s semifinal will be broadcast live on Sky Sport, NOW TV, Sky Go, and also free-to-air on Rai 2 and RaiPlay.
Beyond prestige and ranking points, there’s serious prize money at stake: €291,040 for reaching the semis, over €523,000 for the runner-up, and nearly €1 million for the champion.
