Lorenzo Musetti suffered a difficult defeat at the hands of Casper Ruud at his home tournament of the Italian Open and it could have dramatic consequences for the rest of his season.
The Italian was beaten convincingly by Ruud in straight sets, in a match where his injury troubles seemed to rear their ugly head yet again.
Musetti has missed multiple tournaments so far this year and he was famously ruled out of his Australian Open quarter-final against Novak Djokovic due to injury.
The Italian was adamant he would play his match against Ruud in full on home territory, but it could have unfortunate consequences for Musetti.
“Today I didn’t want to retire because I’m tired of retirements, I apologize for the show but today I wasn’t able to compete. Roland Garros? We’ll see, I need to get checks and tests to understand,” he said in his post-match press conference after losing to Ruud.
“Mentally it’s hard to be clear-headed and proactive, I’ve never had so many injuries in my career. I hope the test results are positive so I can go to Paris with a different attitude. The first two matches in Madrid I felt good physically and tennis-wise.
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“Here I played on one leg and I was afraid to put weight on my left leg. The future of the season is foggy right now, I struggle to think long-term.”
The injury’s severity is bad enough that it could keep him out of Roland Garros, which is set to begin in Pars on the 25th May.
“So far on red clay I haven’t performed at my best and I know that after Paris I’ll have a gap where I can try to recover the points lost. But the priority remains feeling good,” Musetti continued.
Musetti’s defeat to Ruud ensures that he will leave the ATP Tour top 10 and he will surely continue to slip in the rankings if his injury is as bad as feared.
“Dropping out of the top 10 hurts because of how I’m doing it with so many physical problems. If I have to complain about something it’s definitely on the physical level,” he added.
“It’s a cruel twist because here in Rome I entered the top 10 while today I’ll leave it. I’ll try to change certain things to avoid injuries but I struggle to find a single explanation.
“They’ve always been many small injuries at important moments that have affected me mentally and physically. I’ll continue to work to avoid it happening again.”
Musetti his World No. 5 in the rankings at the beginning of the year, after a landmark 2025 season which saw him reach the semi-finals of Roland Garros and the quarter-finals of the US Open.
Despite his improved form on the Tour, Musetti has not won an ATP title since 2022. The Italian has lost seven straight finals, including most recently at the Hong Kong Open at the turn of the year.
The post Lorenzo Musetti delivers heartbreaking injury update after losing to Casper Ruud in Rome appeared first on Tennis365.
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