"Carlos Alcaraz is the King Midas of tennis, what he touches becomes gold" - Lorenzo Musetti

Lorenzo Musetti has joined the long list of people heaping praise on Carlos Alcaraz by crowing him tennis' King Midas.

Alcaraz has made giant strides in the sport since 2022. Having started the year ranked World No. 32 and with one career title to his name, he ended the year with five titles — including his maiden Grand Slam at the US Open.

The youngster also had two runner-up finishes, a 57-13 win-loss record, and rose to be the new top-ranked player on the ATP Tour.

The World No. 1 has carried over his form to 2023, maintaining his ranking while also clinching his second Major at the Wimbledon Championships. He has won five other titles this season — Queen's Club Championships, Madrid Masters, Barcelona Open, Indian Wells Masters, and Buenos Aires Open. He also came close to taking home the French Open crown, when he finished as the runner-up.

Italian World No. 18 Musetti, in an interview with ES Euro, stated that Alcaraz has made incredible progress over the last few months and called him both a friend and a source of inspiration.

“In one year he has made incredible progress in terms of tennis, but also physically and in his awareness of his own means. Today [he] is the reference, the player to beat,” he said.

“He is the King Midas of tennis: what he touches turns to gold. He is both a friend and a source of inspiration, having beaten him is a boast, but also an additional motivation to do it again,” he added.

Musetti and Alcaraz have faced each other two so far, with the head-to-head locked at 1-1. They first faced each other in the 2022 Hamburg Open final, where Musetti let slip five championship points before beating top seed Alcaraz 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4 to win his maiden ATP Tour title.

The two most recently squared off in the Round of 16 at Roland Garros this year, where Alcaraz won 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 en route to a runner-up finish.

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Lorenzo Musetti believes many players are capable of beating Carlos Alcaraz at US Open

Carlos Alcaraz won the 2022 US Open.

Carlos Alcaraz clinched his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open last year, becoming the youngest Major winner since Rafael Nadal (19) won the 2005 French Open and the youngest US Open champion since Pete Sampras (19) in 1990.

Alcaraz did not have an easy ride in New York, as he spent 23 hours and 39 minutes on the court during the fortnight, surpassing Kevin Anderson's 2018 Wimbledon Championships record for the most time played at a single Grand Slam tournament on record (since 1999).

Novak Djokovic's coach Goran Ivanisevic recently claimed that only two players are capable of challenging Alcaraz in his US Open title defence: the Serbian and Jannik Sinner.

“Alcaraz is a story in itself and Sinner is the only one who can threaten him at the US Open along with Novak. Sinner's game bothers Alcaraz and they've had some very interesting encounters so far,” he opined.

Lorenzo Musetti, however, disagreed with Ivanisevic's opinion. The Italian believes that we are yet to see the full potential of many players on the ATP Tour and there are numerous players who are capable of defeating Alcaraz at the year's final Major.

“I disagree [with Ivanisevic's views]. There are many players who can upset him and there are others who are flourishing and whose true value we have not yet seen,” the Italian stated.

The 2023 US Open gets underway at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28.