Musetti Out In Rome: "Tired Of Retiring, Falling Out Of The Top 10 Hurts"

Lorenzo Musetti was knocked out in the fourth round of the Italian Open by Casper Ruud, beaten 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and nineteen minutes. The Tuscan played with a heavy bandage on his left thigh and took a medical timeout in the second set, but chose to see the match out in front of the Foro Italico crowd.

The physical issue has dragged on since the Australian Open quarterfinal against Djokovic and has weighed on much of his season. From Monday, Musetti will drop out of the ATP top 10, exactly one year after breaking in for the first time, right here in Rome.

"I apologize, I'm pretty disappointed with the show I put on. My physical condition didn't let me play the way I wanted to," he said in the press conference. On why he didn't stop on court: "I didn't want to because I'm tired of retiring, especially in front of the home crowd." On the ranking, the bitterness is plain: "It hurts because of the way I'm going out. I broke into the top 10 a year ago in Rome, and going out always here is a cruel joke."

Roland Garros remains an open question. "In the coming days I'll have more targeted tests. I hope the discomfort I felt is less serious than expected and that I can arrive in Paris ready." The French slam starts in less than two weeks, and the line Musetti used to sum up the moment, "my season's future is very hazy," tells the story better than any medical report: a player who has always said he has been "playing a bit on one leg" is now paying the bill.