Three years ago at Roland Garros, a significant moment in men’s tennis seemed to be unfolding before a Court Philippe Chatrier crowd eager for change. Having navigated the first week of a grand slam for the first time in his career, a 19-year-old Italian named Lorenzo Musetti stared down Novak Djokovic and spectacularly rose to the occasion, establishing a sublime two-set lead.

But then it all fell apart. By the time Djokovic was rolling through games in the third set with no response, the writing was on the wall and the world No 1 conceded one game in the rest of the match. While it is not unusual for Djokovic to give opponents a two-set head start before roaring to victory, the ending was particularly curious. Down 4-0 in the fifth set, instead of fighting until the last point and taking his defeat on the chin, Musetti retired.

“It’s not an injury,” Musetti said afterwards. “It’s just a little bit of cramps and a little bit of low back pain. I was not anymore able to win a point, and so … I decided to retire.”

For much of the past few years, even as Musetti has risen up the rankings and established himself inside the top 30, that fascinating encounter with Djokovic has, in some ways, been a representation of the 22-year-old’s career. On one hand, he is a tremendous talent who is blessed with a beautiful, varied and complete game that is even more distinct in an era when booming serves and groundstrokes are the norm.

So often, though, his head has got in the way of fully realising those talents. He already has a reputation for lacking inner belief and getting tight in the decisive moments. As a former junior world No 1 and winner of the Australian Open boys singles in 2019, Musetti’s name was often uttered in the same sentences as players such as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. While his contemporaries have quickly established themselves at the top, his gains have been more modest.

Everyone is on their own path and this year at Wimbledon, Musetti, the 25th seed, is finally enjoying a long-awaited breakthrough. In his first grand slam semi-final he will face Djokovic again. Alcaraz, meanwhile, will face Daniil Medvedev in the second last-four match.

Considering Musetti thrived on hard courts in his junior career and his best results as a senior were previously on clay, it is a surprise that his breakthrough should come on grass. But it also makes perfect sense. Grass has always rewarded variety and imagination; Musetti possesses a brilliant backhand slice, excellent movement and hand skills that allow him to play such improvisational, all-court tennis alongside his wicked topspin forehand. With more exposure to the surface, the Italian is increasingly becoming a nightmare to play on the surface.

It has been particularly enjoyable to follow Musetti’s steady, gradual growth on grass, from losing his first four matches between 2021 and 2022 to making notable progress last year and then soaring in 2024. Before Wimbledon, he followed up a semi-final in Stuttgart by reaching the Queen’s final, where he lost to Tommy Paul.

That progress culminated in a brilliant five-set win over Taylor Fritz, the 13th seed, on Wednesday, where Musetti made the American so uncomfortable with his full arsenal of shots, dragging him into different parts of the court but also holding his nerve at the end. Afterwards, Musetti, normally soft-spoken and reserved, was jubilant. “I have to say after the birth of my son [this year], I will put in the second position today for my career. For my career [this] is the best day of my life,” he said.

Just before the grass season began, the Italian enjoyed another tussle with Djokovic at Roland Garros. He played an incredible match to lead by two sets to one in a delirious third-round encounter that finished at 3am, the latest finish in the tournament’s history. It took an immense performance from Djokovic in the final two sets to survive. Instead of allowing the defeat to derail his progress, it has provided a platform for the best run of Musetti’s career. “I think I made, of course, a step forward in maturity and experience. Probably those losses with all big champions made me think, made me work harder.”

In their six previous encounters, the Italian has one win, toppling Djokovic in three tight sets at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 last year. While the 37-year-old will be heavily favoured to continue his remarkable recovery from knee surgery and reach an incredible 10th Wimbledon final, Musetti should enter Centre Court believing he can win. Whether that belief will endure in the decisive moments will define both his performance and the future of his career.