"They took two different paths to reach the top level," Volandri analyzes the all-Italian duel between Sinner and Musetti at the US Open
On Wednesday night into Thursday, the final men's quarterfinal will pit Jannik Sinner against Lorenzo Musetti. The world number one and defending US Open champion will play for a spot in the semifinals against his compatriot, who is having the best season of his career but has struggled with consistency since his leg injury at Roland-Garros.
Former professional player and now captain of the Italian Davis Cup team, Filippo Volandri, who knows both players very well, discussed the upcoming duel between his two young protégés.
"They are both really nice guys, and they both live for tennis, without many distractions outside, but they are different players, different people, and they have taken different paths. Jannik (Sinner) played against pros from the beginning, Lorenzo (Musetti) played juniors until he was 17.
They took two different paths to reach the top level. Lorenzo is expecting his second child, Jannik is far from that. The worst thing for Lorenzo is choosing what he's going to do because he can do everything.
He is so talented, and every time the ball comes to his side, he has plenty of options, sometimes too many. He has improved on that. Before, he would get frustrated when he wasn't playing the way he wanted, now he accepts it more.
Jannik, I think he is the best at handling the toughest aspects of this sport, he's even better than Carlos (Alcaraz) in that regard. We saw it against (Denis) Shapovalov here or at Wimbledon, he knows how to manage the most important moments.
He has a lot of emotions inside, everyone gets scared on certain points, but the difference is how you manage those emotions. Jannik is the best in the world right now, but everyone wants to play against him because he pushes you to your limit.
Even if he loses, this match will be important for Lorenzo because it will show him what he still needs to work on. Against Jannik, everything has to be perfect," Volandri told L'Équipe.
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