Lorenzo Musetti reaches Australian Open QFs, next he faces DJokovic | ATP tour | Tennis

Australian Open

Musetti completes big QF set and earns Djokovic clash at Australian Open

The fifth seed breaks Lexus ATP Head2Head’s tie with Fritz
January 26, 2026

Lorenzo Musetti defeated fellow Top 10 star Taylor Fritz on Monday at the Australian Open, where the Italian enters his fourth major quarter-final and first in Melbourne.

Combining elite court coverage with his blistering shooting, Musetti scored a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory at Rod Laver Arena, sealing a run of quarter-finals at the four Slams.

Musetti’s best career result at any major
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The fifth seed has set up a clash against record 10-time champion Novak Djokovic, who reached the last eight after Czech Jakub Mensik withdrew due to an abdominal muscle injury. Djokovic leads Musetti 9-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, including six straight victories.

Two days removed from playing a four-hour, 27-minute, five-set battle against Tomas Machac, Musetti showed no obvious signs of fatigue under the midday sun. Musetti opened his shoulders and dictated play from the baseline, smashing 33 winners and using his heavy top-spin forehand to draw mistakes from Fritz.

The American struggled early to land his usually reliable serve, finishing the first set with a first-serve percentage of 42 percent, according to Infosys Stats. Although Fritz found more rhythm in his throwing as the match progressed, he was unable to make any progress upon return (0/2 on break points).

With k-tape on both his left and right oblique areas, Fritz called the physio at 3-2 in the second set. Musetti, a two-time tour-level titlist, broke Fritz at love at 5-5 later that set, allowing him to serve for a two-set lead to love. Musetti broke Fritz again in the opening game of the third set and rarely looked back, taking victory after two hours and three minutes. Musetti kept his cool while serving for the match, landing three deft drop shots on his way to love.

Musetti competes at No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings for his career this fortnight. Last year, he posted a career-high 45 tour-level victories and appeared in the year-end Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. With his latest victory, Musetti improved to 4-3 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Fritz, who defeated the Italian in Turin in November. The Italian’s victory marked his first hard court victory against Fritz.

Here to stay 😤

Lorenzo Musetti beat Fritz 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the first time.@AustraliaOpen | #AO26 pic.twitter.com/DYXdTDropk

— ATP tour (@atptour) January 26, 2026