Musetti sets out his ambitions: "A top-10 finish is within my grasp".

Lorenzo Musetti has big goals for 2025. The 16th-ranked player in the world had a solid year last year, and he's hoping to confirm that.

For his first round match at the Australian Open, however, he will have to overcome his compatriot and friend, Matteo Arnaldi, in a 100% Italian clash.

Speaking to Super Tennis, the 22-year-old confirmed that he wants to reach the top 10 by December.

"I'd say my preparation was disrupted. I wasn't feeling very well physically and was forced to miss a few days of training, which affected my performance at the start of the year.

That's why my two matches in Hong Kong were different. The first was positive (against Gabriel Diallo), the second (against Jaume Munar) was hard to swallow.

However, we wanted to start right away with a tournament to prepare for the Australian Open. I'm feeling good now," he says.

"Matteo Arnaldi and I have known each other for a long time. When we were younger, we used to spend training days and free time together.

We've played together many times. It won't be an easy match, but that's tennis. Nowadays, more and more of the Grand Slam main draw includes Italian players.

I've won 23 of my last 30 matches against players of the same nationality as me, which means I'm handling the pressure better.

I'm able to put friendship aside and concentrate on what I need to do on the court.

The main objective is to break into the top 10. I think that's within my grasp, given last season's excellent results.

To do that, I know that I still need to be more consistent in the Grand Slams and Masters 1000s", he concluded.