Lorenzo Musetti continued his incredible 2025 clay-court season by reaching the semi-final of the French Open and in the process he became only the fifth player to notch up a unique achievement on the red dirt while he is also set for a new high in the ATP Rankings.
The Italian kicked off the clay-court campaign at No 16 in the rankings, but his runners-up finish at the Monte Carlo Masters put him on the cusp of the top 10 at the start of April as he peaked at No 11.
A few weeks later he jumped to No 9 after reaching the semi-final of the Madrid Open before climbing two more places after the Italian Open.
And now he is projected to break into the top 5 for the first time after his latest win at Roland Garros, although Novak Djokovic could still deny him fifth place in the rankings if he goes further in Paris.
Whatever the outcome of the semi-finals, Musetti is assured of being as high as No 6.
But Musetti’s 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over Frances Tiafoe means he has reached the semi-final of the four big clay-court events (Roland Garros and the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments) in the same season.
Before the start of this year, the Italian had made it to the last four of only one big event as he lost in the semi-final at Wimbledon last year.
On clay, he made it to the quarter-final once before and that was at the 2023 Monte Carlo Masters.
But he kicked off his 2025 red dirt season by finishing runner-up to Alcaraz in Monte Carlo, then reached the semi-final in Madrid before losing against Jack Draper while he also lost in the last four in Rome against Alcaraz.
And now he is set for a third meeting against Alcaraz in as many months as they will face each other in the semi-final of the French Open.
Musetti’s clay-court feat
By beating Tiafoe, the 23-year-old has emulated four other players to reach the last four of all big events on clay since the introduction of the ATP Masters 1000 series in 1990.
Rafael Nadal was the first to achieve the milestone in 2007 as he won the French Open, the Monte Carlo Masters and the Italian Open while he finished runner-up in Madrid.
Three years later he completed the hat-trick as he won all four big events on clay and in 2011 he won the French Open and Monte Carlo Masters and finished runner-up in Madrid and Rome.
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In 2013 he won the French Open, Madrid Open and Italian Open and lost the Monte Carlo final while the last time he achieved the feat was in 2019 when he won titles at Roland Garros and Rome and lost in the semis of the other two tournaments.
Novak Djokovic made it a two-man club in 2008 when he won the Italian Open and reached the semi-finals of the other three events.
Andy Murray joined the list in 2016 as he won in Rome, finished runner-up at Roland Garros and Madrid and reached the last four in Monte Carlo.
Alexander Zverev finished runner-up in Madrid in 2022 and reached the semi-finals in Paris, Monte Carlo and Rome.
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