“It’s a dream come true”– said Lorenzo Musetti after making it to the quarterfinals. But what would it be after continuing his dream run to another stop: the semi-finals? A few days ago, Musetti’s name was not in tennis fans’ thoughts when they talked about the last 4 standing on the Grass court. However, the dark horse of the Wimbledon 2024 has overcome Taylor Fritz’s wall to make his way farther into the tournament. And it’s not just his dream which came true, but his coach’s too, as he fulfills this special request to celebrate the journey.

After his R4 win, Musetti choked up during his post-win interview. However, his coach, Simone Tartarini, was waiting for him to make a step further into the tournament. And when he passed through Fritz’s test in the 5-set thriller, it was Tartarini’s turn to realize his dream. The proud coach couldn’t hold back his tears as he pronounced Musetti’s quarter-final win, “A crazy dream.” That is certainly true, as this would be the Italian’s first Grand Slam semifinal since he turned pro back in 2019.

Acknowledging the tennis flair of the semifinalists, Tartarini praised both as they “Played incredible tennis also because Fritz served very well and didn’t give up.” Though many players have reckoned on taking one step at a time, but Musetti followed it to the core. His coach opened up about their strategy to tackle another big fish. “Lorenzo did what I asked him to do,” he said. “He held on. It’s an indescribable emotion. He made incredible variations.”

The protégé-coach duo is over the moon as they tick, making it to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam from their bucket list, and prepare for a new one. However, not before celebrating this step forward, as Tartarini fulfills Musetti’s request to eat homemade pasta in London! And the coach has sorted it out already for his ward: “I’m going to Lorenzo’s, who wants me to come home and eat some plain “dry” pasta. That’s good. My grandmother is the one who cooks.”

However, this is not the end, as Musetti has just started scaling upwards, and the road ahead is a difficult one. In the semifinal, he faces the master of the grass court, Novak Djokovic, who is looking forward to equaling Roger Federer’s record of 8-Grand Slam wins on the Grass turf. But it seems tennis fans in London have already decided to back the Italian in the semis.

Wimbledon fans rile up to support Lorenzo Musetti in semifinals

Wimbledon has a new favorite to back up against the Serbian ace in the SFs. The Italian hope, Musetti. Italian’s goal for this season was to be a ‘good father’ to his newborn son. It seems tennis goals took a bit of a backseat as life moved on for the Italian. However, when the time was right, Musetti came back with full force on the circuit to make it to his first Grand Slam semis.

During his post-win interview on the court, the moment Italian said Djokovic, there was a collective reply from the tennis fans sitting in the stands, “Booooooo!” A shocking fact for some, but this would be reassuring for the Italian, that he has the crowd on his side as he faces Djoker for the third time this year, and again in a Grand Slam match.

After winning the game point, as he concluded the 5th set against the American, the Italian smiled in disbelief before looking up into the sky with hope. Would he get third-time lucky against the Serbian ace, who has a 5-1 record in his favor?