Wimbledon semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti lives for tennis so much he has a tattoo of a racquet on a graph of his own heartbeat on his left arm.
It is one of three tattoos on the Italian’s body. He also has an anchor representing the importance of family in his life and a quote from his coach saying ‘Il meglio deve ancora venire’ meaning ‘the best is yet to come’.
The 22-year-old, who became a father in March, will hope that mantra will help him when he faces seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic in the second of Friday’s semi-finals.
Musetti, a finalist at this year’s Queen’s, has had a rollercoaster run into the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
He has won three of his matches this fortnight in four sets and the other two in five, overcoming 13th seed Taylor Fritz in an epic quarter-final that lasted three hours 27 minutes.
The crowd on Court One quickly sided with the Italian, appreciating his powerful and resilient play as well as his passionate reaction to victory.
As the underdog on Friday, the 25th seed is likely to have even more support when he walks on to Centre Court for the first time.
Djokovic, meanwhile, will be hoping for a better reaction after accusing some members of the crowd of disrespectful booing during his fourth-round win over Holger Rune.
The last time the two met, Djokovic won in five sets. That was six weeks ago in the French Open in an incredible match which finished at 3:07 in the morning.
It was the Serb’s fifth win against Musetti, whose only victory over Djokovic came on the clay of Monte Carlo last year.
But Musetti, who is hoping to take inspiration from fellow Italian Jasmine Paolini’s run to the women’s final, says he has “always finished with a lesson” every time he has faced Djokovic – and this time he has “his shot”.
“He’s probably the best player ever, or one of the best players ever,” he said. “You walk on court [to face him] with a different mentality.”
Djokovic has worn a knee support this tournament after having surgery in June but has been as relentless as ever as he bids to match Roger Federer’s men’s record of eight Wimbledon singles titles.
And the 37-year-old has had the advantage of an extra day’s rest after receiving a bye into the last four after Alex de Minaur withdrew from their quarter-final through injury.
He has been singing his opponent’s praises in the build-up to the match.
“He’s a very talented player. We’ve known this for many years,” Djokovic told the BBC. “He has a beautiful one-handed backhand, he’s very quick.
“He’s a very good all-round player – he can play equally well defensively and offensively.”
Alcaraz vs Medvedev, take two
The winner between Musetti and Djokovic will face either defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or fifth seed Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final.
The match, which will be played first on Centre Court from 13:30 BST on Friday, is a repeat of last year’s semi-final which Spaniard Alcaraz won in straight sets.
The three-time Grand Slam winner boasts a great record over Medvedev, winning four of their six matches.
But the Russian did get his revenge in the last four of the US Open 10 months ago, and will take heart from beating top seed Jannik Sinner in a thrilling five-setter in the previous round.
Alcaraz, 21, who won the French Open six weeks ago, was almost beaten by 29th seed Frances Tiafoe in the third round.
He recovered from a set down to beat American Tommy Paul in his quarter-final on Tuesday.
BBC
