Today, we’re taking a look at the racquet of yet another talented Italian ATP player. His one-handed backhand is a thing of beauty, and he’s just achieved a career-high ranking of number 23 in the world.
Lorenzo Musetti already has two ATP Tour titles to his name at the age of 20, and shows plenty of promise for the future, especially on clay courts where he is most comfortable.
When he burst onto the scene at the Italian Open in Rome, he beat three-time grand slam champ Stan Wawrinka in his first match and toppled Kei Nishikori in the next round.
The racquet he used to produce some brilliant shots as he collected the scalps of two tour veterans was none other than the new Head Extreme Tour…or was it?
- Endorsed Racquet: Head Auxetic Boom Pro
- Actual Racquet: Head PT 348.1 = Retail Head Graphene 360+ Extreme Tour mold with a special layup
- Strings: Head Hawk Touch mains and Head Lynx Tour crosses
What’s Under the Paint?
Musetti’s paintjob is a bit deceptive. The geometry, string pattern, and even the grommets match a retail Graphene 360+ Extreme Tour. And that’s basically what it is. He uses the Head pro stock code PT 348.1 which corresponds to the Extreme Tour mold with a special “Pro Tour” layup.
Whether this is a layup borrowed from a different frame like the PT339.1 and 339.2 use the PT10 and PT57A molds is unknown, but the flex comes in at a supple 60 RA.
The Extreme Tour retail mold is no slouch, and it has a bit of a cult following among many tennis gearheads for its balance of comfort, feedback, and classic Head feel.
But, it seems Musetti settled on the PT layup. He is still playing this frame and layup underneath his Head Auxetic Boom paintjob in 2022, as evidenced by the geometry of his racquet’s throat area.
Specs
Lorenzo uses a fairly heavy racquet compared to some of his younger peers. His custom frames weigh in at 340g with a 32.3cm balance and 345 swingweight. There’s plenty of mass for him to crush through that beautiful one-hander and carve up his opponents with his slice.
The more headlight balance helps with maneuverability off both wings too. Somewhat interestingly, Musetti employs a hybrid string setup of two polyester offerings from Head—Hawk touch (awhile ago, some sources reported Hawk Rough) in the mains and lynx tour in the crosses at 24kg all around.
It’s a bit odd to put the shaped string in the crosses, but he obviously likes this setup and doesn’t seem to be changing anything about it.
All together, Musetti’s racquet and string setup are geared toward his game of constructing points and utilizing different spins and angles to work his opponents around the court rather than blasting straight through them.
The Extreme Tour mold provides plenty of spin and response while the polyester hybrid should accentuate his spin potential as well.
There’s enough swingweight to plow through the ball and it’s not so heavy he can’t hit out of tough situations on defense. His racquet appears to be a good fit for him, especially given his recent career-high ranking!
What’s Ahead?
Lorenzo Musetti clearly has plenty of talent for his young age, but his best results have come on clay courts.
That’s not to say that he can’t compete on faster surfaces because he just beat countryman Matteo Berrettini in Naples Italy for an ATP 250 title on outdoor hard courts.
His racquet is something that is fit to his game and a tool that makes sense for his style. If he can continue to build confidence on the faster hard courts, he could be a top 20 stalwart for years to come!
If you’re interested in other ATP players’ racquets, I listed all the top 100 players’ racquets in this post.