Ten-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic has advanced to his 13th semifinal at Melbourne Park after fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti retired with a two-sets-to-love lead on Wednesday afternoon.
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The Italian led 6-4 6-3 1-3 before retiring injured, unable to compete further due to pain from a potential tear in his right iliopsoas or adductor.
“I feel really sorry for him and he was the far better player, for sure, I was on my way home tonight,” said Djokovic, the fourth seed.
“Being [in the] quarters of a Grand Slam, two sets to love up and being in full control, I mean so unfortunate.
“I really wish him a speedy recovery and he should have been a winner today, no doubt.”
Djokovic’s key strategy on Wednesday was to abbreviate points, and he won 63 per cent or 20 of 32 net points.
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But before the match’s premature conclusion, Musetti drew 32 unforced errors from the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s racquet, in part due to his stellar defensive abilities.
“He makes you play – when you think the point is finished, it’s not,” said Djokovic.
“When you attack him, you don’t know what to expect, whether it’s going to be a passing shot, cross-court, or short slice or he’s going to go full flat in your body or just a looping ball to my weakest shot, which is overhead, I think we’ve seen that today again.
“Just wasn’t feeling the ball today the first couple [of] sets but that’s also due to his quality and his variety.
“I’m just extremely lucky to get through this today.”
The battle, which ended at the two hour and eight-minute mark, enthralled the 15,000-strong crowd at Rod Laver Arena and handed 38-year-old Djokovic a record 103rd victory at Melbourne Park.
Entering the pair’s 11th meeting with a 9-1 head-to-head lead, the Serb broke Musetti in the fifth seed’s opening service game to earn a 2-0 lead.
The Italian quickly regained the break as Djokovic, struggling with his foe’s variety, reeled off a string of unforced errors including a whiffed overhead.
Oozing confidence on return, Musetti produced a stunning backhand winner to earn break points in the fifth game and, showing Djokovic how it’s done, executed a perfect overhead to secure his third game in a row.
After consolidating the advantage with a 95-second love-hold, the Italian fifth seed continued to have an impact on return, earning three break points which his experienced foe saved with a drop shot winner, a sizzling forehand down-the-line and a clinical volley that forced an error from Musetti.
Emerging slowly from the change of ends at 4-3, Djokovic earned a time violation warning but maintained his composure.
Still, he was unable to make headway during Musetti’s comfortable service games, and the fifth seed casually sealed the opening set with a clean forehand winner down the line.
The 23-year-old Italian carried the momentum into the second set, breaking Djokovic in the opening game with a perfectly-executed lob.
Though the fourth seed broke back immediately, Musetti returned the favour and strode to a 2-1 lead by attacking a 133km/h Djokovic second serve to gain an upper hand.
Djokovic earned a break point in the sixth game and was poised to capitalise on it after opening the court, only to slam a forehand into the net to end the nail-biting 17-stroke rally.
Serving to stay in the set at 5-3, Djokovic showed his sportsmanship by conceding a point. The 38-year old alerted umpire James Keothavong to the fact he’d touched a ball that had bounced wide after clipping the net. The score, which had been called at 40-15, reverted to 30-30.
Musetti, sensing his opportunity, manufactured two break points that doubled as set points, and pounded another forehand winner to secure a two-sets-to-love advantage.
Djokovic then received a medical time-out for a sizable blister on his right foot.
The fourth seed had recovered to win from a two-sets-to-love deficit eight times in his career, but never at Melbourne Park.
In the third set, he made a case for a comeback by breaking Musetti to love for a 2-1 lead.
After that game, Musetti received a medical time-out, which he later said aggravated the injury.
From there, Musetti contested another 10 points, but after serving up a double fault that took the third set score to 1-3 15-40, he was unable to continue.
Musetti later revealed that he felt something was wrong during the second set, but that he continued to compete because he was playing so well.
“The feeling of leading two sets to zero against Novak and playing like that and have the lead of the match like that and be forced to retire is something that I will never imagine," he said.
"Of course, it's really painful.”
Musetti’s retirement helped Djokovic avoid his first defeat in a Grand Slam quarterfinal since losing to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros 2022.
By advancing on Wednesday, the fourth seed extended his record to 54 Grand Slam semifinal appearances, and is the second-oldest man in the Open Era to reach an AO semifinal after Ken Rosewall.
It’s also his 12th major semifinal since turning 35, a record.
Djokovic’s semifinal opponent will be decided on Wednesday night when second seed Jannik Sinner meets eighth-seeded Ben Shelton.