"If he wants, he can do it too": Lorenzo Musetti responds to Alexander Zverev's comments about using defensive strategy

Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti has had an interesting response to Germany’s Alexander Zverev after the two recently met at the Rome Open. Both players faced off in the quarterfinal of the ongoing ATP 1000 event in the Italian capital, where the 23-year-old came out on top in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-4.

Talking after the match, Zverev was clearly unhappy with the result and he criticised the balls used in the contest. The Australian Open 2025 runner-up also criticised his opponent on the day for applying negative tactics.

"Of course, for me, for my game style, today was not easy because at the end of the day, I'm still somebody who tries to play aggressively,” he said. “I'm still somebody who tries to serve very fast. That's how it is. It's difficult to get free points today. I think he plays similarly when he plays on clay all the time. He depends a lot on defense. He depends a lot on the mistakes of other opponents. Today was difficult for me to hit winners. It was very slow, very, very heavy."

Musetti has now been quoted in a report where he responded to the German tennis star by stating: "Does he think I'm too cautious? If he wants, he can do it too. We also played on other surfaces and the result was the same.”

Musetti’s journey in the competition ended in the semifinals stage where he lost to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-6. Despite that result, the Italian will be extremely pleased with his recent performances. Out of the last four events, Musetti has played in the semifinal in three of them. On one occasion, at the Monte-Carlo Masters, he finished as the runner-up after losing the final to Alcaraz with a score of 3-6, 6-1, 6-0. Those performances has impacted his standings in the ATP rankings as well where he is currently placed on the ninth position and is now in touching distance with eighth-placed Norway’s Casper Ruud.