By now we knew it, it was Davis number 3, the one without Sinner, who gave clear proof of the fact that top Italian tennis is no longer just Jannik Sinner, which no longer depends on it. But it is the qualification for the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, even more than the ranking, that gives good news for Italian tennis with Lorenzo Musetti capable of beating Taylor Fritz in four sets, in difficult conditions, more experienced than him at these levels and with a Sinner who, having emerged well from the climatic difficulties he had with Spizzirri, overcame Luciano Darderi in two hours who also played on par in the third set
Reaching the quarterfinals in tournaments with three sets out of five is an indicator of solidity, it means, in fact, playing on a court where coincidences weigh less and stability more: technical, physical and mental. And it will be precisely that field that will decide between Musetti and Djokovic who will continue the race in the tournament, taking third place in the world rankings regardless (just 15 virtual points are at stake between the two).
And the best news is that the renaissance of Italian tennis – which we probably haven’t seen yet because neither Lorenzo Musetti nor Jannik Sinner, at 23 and 24, still have room for technical and athletic maturation – does not bring just one type of tennis player onto the circuit, but tennis players who are all different from each other, cultivated in their individuality, capable of expressing different talents, styles, characters and creativity that are not distorted as they grow.
This is a guarantee of entertainment for us spectators, because in tennis rivalries the greatest spectacle emerges in stylistic diversity.
The Sinner-Musetti duopoly will benefit both, adding stimuli. And if, then, Jannik Sinner manages to add some flashes of Musetti-style creativity to his game, especially on the fly, and if Lorenzo Musetti manages to bring Jannik’s mental stability a little closer, especially when the stakes rise, we might even discover that the evolution of Djokovic and Federer is within us and that the two will still be able to grow by diversifying from their models.
It’s best to sit comfortably, because there will be a lot of entertainment and then if the Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry really becomes a three-way rivalry, we will have even more fun and not only because two out of three are Italian, but because the risk of getting bored will decrease, for us and for them.
