Tartarini, Musetti’s coach: “Davis? Divided between heart and reason”

He took him by the hand as a child, accompanying him to the Finals in Turin where today, Lorenzo Musetti will be called to the most difficult and spectacular challenge against Carlos Alcaraz, number 1 in the world. Simone Tartarini is the coach-traveling companion-confidant-second father of the boy from Carrara. They have been working together since the player was 10 years old.

Simone, Lorenzo arrived in Turin already in reserve. A chase around the world to get here. Despite the effort, after the emotions of the other evening, can we say that it was worth it?

“Of course. The tiredness is above all nervous, as well as physical. We’ve been chasing it for weeks, doing calculations, trying to understand how many things to do and how to do them. Lorenzo did 8 consecutive weeks without stopping: Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Brussels, Vienna, Paris, Athens, Turin. Eight in a row: that’s quite a lot.”

Have you ever felt like giving up the race?

“We thought about it. It happened in Brussels: Lorenzo didn’t want to play it, I did. He could have even skipped it, but in tennis we don’t play alone, other people’s points also count. Aliassime played, Medvedev played, everyone played: if he hadn’t gone there would have been 250 points less on the table. And then we started running again.”

Finally, after the defeat in Athens, Novak Djokovic’s gift arrived. Did you expect it?

“No. Nobody knew anything. Throughout the week we tried to understand. We joked with his team who kept telling us that only Nole would decide and at the last moment. They had booked everything for Turin, the rooms, the flights. At the beginning we talked between teams: nobody knew anything, there really wasn’t any clue.”

When Lorenzo lost the final after winning the first set, what did you feel?

“I was dead. By five points we were first reserve. Then, at the handshake at the net, I understood. The “I’m not going to Turin” came and my heart started beating again. Mentally it was very hard.”

What do you say to those who say the Finals aren’t deserved?

“Which is nonsense. Lorenzo has missed many tournaments this season due to injuries, first in Monte Carlo, then the injury suffered at Roland Garros, finally the illness at Wimbledon. With a few more tournaments he would have easily been among the top five of the Race.”

In your garage you can always breathe a lot of emotion. She always looks like she’s about to explode…

“In these last few matches I’ve felt a lot: with Djokovic you win the first and you think “there we go”, you lose the second and you’re in the third 40-0… a rollercoaster. With De Minaur even more so, at a certain point I feared that Veronica’s (Lorenzo’s partner, ed.)’s waters had broken, she’s due to give birth in ten days but she’s a tank. I saw a video of Lorenzo as a kid who said: “in five years I’d like to be able to play the Finals”. Now we’re here, we started from afar. We don’t want to waste the opportunity.”

How did you spend your day off, Lorenzo? Were you able to get him to work off some of his adrenaline?

“A few quick commitments with the sponsors and lots of rest. Relaxation with the family, with Veronica and the child, Ludovico. Lorenzo’s parents are also here. Just relaxation and not even a minute of tennis. He didn’t touch the racket.”

Will the last match against the world number 1 be a success, whatever happens?

“You always enter the field to win. Naturally your strength isn’t fresh, but playing the last match with the chance to overturn the group is a good thing. We’ll certainly enjoy it.”

Davis chapter: what do we do?

“We will decide with the captain when the Finals are over. There is also the family issue with the baby, Leandro, who is due in a few days. Lorenzo has never missed a team competition since he was under. But here reason recommends sitting at the table with the captain and evaluating: between China and these eight, in 16 weeks he spent 5 days at home. The heart would say to play for the respect Lorenzo has for the national team, reason says not to make rash choices. With Volandri we will make the best decision.”