Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti continue to shine for Italian tennis at Grand Slams, with both having reached at least the quarter-finals in the past seven majors.
Sinner defeated Luciano Darderi at the Australian Open to earn a quarter-finals match with Ben Shelton in Melbourne.
Musetti, meanwhile, looked incredibly impressive as he swept aside Taylor Fritz in straight sets to set up a match with Novak Djokovic in the last eight.
Ahead of their quarter-finals matches, Sinner has detailed whether Musetti can defeat Djokovic at the Australian Open.
Jannik Sinner says Lorenzo Musetti is getting ‘closer’ to challenging Novak Djokovic
Musetti has a wretched record against the 24-time Grand Slam champion, with just one win in ten against the tennis legend.
The Italian has suffered six straight losses to Djokovic since 2023, although Sinner believes Musetti is improving with every tournament.
Who has impressed you most so far at the Australian Open?
Asked how Musetti will fare against Djokovic, he said: “I like watching tennis, the more Italians on TV the better it is.
“I’m nothing but happy for him. On Nole… those are matches where you’ll see how it goes. Musetti improved a lot on hard court, he’s getting closer… Let’s see.”
Musetti and Sinner are in the same side of the draw, so if they both win their matches they will meet in the semi-final.
Sinner and Musetti have played each other three times on the ATP Tour, with each match going the way of the world number two.
Sinner is set to play Shelton in his quarter-final match, after the American impressed in a four-set victory against Casper Ruud.
Lorenzo Musetti matches Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz after defeating Taylor Fritz
Many were surprised when Musetti hit world number three in the ATP Tour rankings, but he’s been quietly raking in points due to his impressive performances on the big stages.
That elusive ATP title still might be missing, but the star continues to match records that have only been set by Sinner and Alcaraz.
Who would win this legendary showdown?
Musetti is just the third male player born since 2000 to reach the quarter-finals of all four Grand Slams, according to OptaAce.
The Italian’s best efforts at Grand Slams are two semi-final appearances at Wimbledon in 2024 and Roland Garros in 2025.
Musetti has already bagged 300 ranking points at the Australian Open, having only reached the third round in 2025.
