Press conferences are designed to be informative affairs: members of the media ask intelligent and probing questions (well, that is what we are supposed to do; we seldom succeed) and the players, in turn, provide thoughtful and enlightening answers.

It is not meant to be an ordeal, but for Lorenzo Musetti, his appearance before the press corps must have been painful.

Several players have been asked about this year's Roland-Garros final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, including Musetti.

But just two days before that final, Alcaraz had broken Musetti's heart and done untold damage to his left leg. The Italian, newly elevated to No.7 in the world rankings (a source of huge pride and joy for Musetti), was forced to retire in the fourth set and limped away to ponder his immediate future. This was not a memory any player would wish to recall.

For two sets, Musetti had strained every sinew to chase Alcaraz around Court Philippe-Chatrier. He had won the first set and lost the second on a tie-break.

It was nip-and-tuck stuff and Musetti was matching the world No.2.

But as he went to serve at the start of the third set, one sinew rebelled and he felt pain at the back of his left thigh. The problem got worse; Musetti did not win another game.

“Basically I stayed out without touching any racket for two full weeks,” Musetti explained. “But the important thing was doing therapies and rehabilitation every day. Let’s say I didn’t take the two weeks as a vacation.

“I worked as hard as I could to be ready to play here. I arrived here on Monday so let’s say one week of training, which was not really one week because I was sick a little for bit two days. But at least we are here.”

He did not sound too optimistic but he was ready to try his best. And at least being at home for a while allowed him to spend some time with his growing family – he has a one-year-old son, Ludovico, and he and his girlfriend Veronica are expecting their second child.

It would appear that fatherhood has been the making of Musetti. Since the arrival of Ludovico in March last year, he reached the final of Queen’s and the semi-final here and then took the bronze medal at the Olympics.

This year, he had the best month of his career in the spring by reaching the final in Monte Carlo and the semi-finals in Madrid and Rome. With that as his launching pad, he reached the semi-finals at Roland-Garros. But we know what happened there.

Now he has to make the best of a rough run of luck and see if he can salvage anything from the situation.

“Of course, I wanted to be more prepared for Wimbledon this year. Of course, I have a semi-final to defend. It’s an important stage of the season, which I wanted to do great and to continue the great form that I showed in the last (few) months.

“It’s been tough, of course, after the French Open to not play any tournament before Wimbledon, to prepare for the grass season. But the important thing is to stay healthy and to be healthy enough to play, so here we are.”

Musetti was at home as Alcaraz and Sinner fought for five-and-a-half hours but he did watch the final set.

“The fifth set was really honestly amazing until the end,” he said. “I think Carlos played an unbelievable tie-break at the end. But a big, big shout-out to both players because they showed that, at the moment, they are the best in the world.”

He really is an awfully nice chap is Musetti.