Italy is on tenterhooks. Could Lorenzo Musetti do the unthinkable? Would he have the nerve to beat Novak Djokovic on Centre Court and reach his first Wimbledon final? Can he do it on Friday?

Could ya? Would ya? Can ya? Or, rather, potrebbi? Voresti? Puoi?

The obvious answer is ‘no’. Djokovic’s record in these parts is played 107, lost 11. Over 19 years. Yes, he is 37; yes, he has a poorly knee. But he is still Novak Djokovic, seven-time Wimbledon champion and 24-time Grand Slam champion.

By contrast, this is Musetti’s first Grand Slam semi-final. In theory, Djokovic could win this one, eyes shut.

Yet tennis – or, indeed, any professional sport – does not follow the logical or obvious path. That is why we love it.

Musetti is playing like a grass court aficionado this year; he looks as if he was born to play on the stuff. But look at his record and he has only got the hang of grass in the last few weeks.

Until this summer he had won six grass court matches in his life: two here, two at Queen’s Club and two in Stuttgart.

Then the penny dropped: his game is perfectly suited to the surface – he is fast, he can construct his points with care, his backhand slice can shred the opposition’s defences and he can vary the pace and the play at will.

His results coming into Wimbledon were a semi-final finish in Stuttgart and a place in the final at Queen’s. And now he is two matches away from the title here.

“It's certainly something that I'm really working on it,” he said. “Since I was a kid, I didn't like to do always the same stuff on the court, not to be, let's say, mono-automatic on the court. Probably it's a good help on grass, and I'm using this week.”

The problem is the bloke on the other side of the net. Djokovic is a warrior and seems to play his best with his back to the wall. Knee surgery a month before his opening match? Pah. No more than a flesh wound. Onward to the final.

He announced before The Championships started that he would not play if he thought he could not win. Nothing he has done so far suggests that he has changed his mind.

He has beaten Musetti five times in six matches. Two of those have been at Roland-Garros, and both times he was taken to a fifth set. Even if the Italian had not beaten him over the full Grand Slam distance, he has pushed him hard. And Musetti has learned from the experience.

Their first meeting came in Paris and Musetti had to default after four games of the fifth set. He had run himself into the ground to win the first two sets and had nothing left to give.

When they met on the French clay last month, Musetti won the fourth set and then took a pasting in the fifth. But he was still there at the end, still trying to compete at 3.07am as the match finished.

“I have to say with Nole, after the match I always finished with a lesson,” he said. “Of course, the last match was really an intense match from both players and really stressful match.

“I think I analyse really well that match and the key moments where I could do better. I put myself in that position, I think, in the past weeks, starting from Stuttgart. I started to feel more consistent in that, in the attitude. So that's probably what I have to do in the next round.

“If I play in a certain way, I could have my shot in the next round; I think I can have a chance with Nole.”

Saying it is one thing; doing it against Djokovic in your first Wimbledon semi-final is another.

But if he can do to Djokovic what he did to Taylor Fritz in the last round – drive him to distraction with his variety and move him into places in the court where he does not want to be – he might have a chance to close out that fifth set for once. He just needs to get there first.