It seems ‘destiny’ is firmly entrenched in his racket bag, guiding Novak Djokovic to achieve his dream of winning a 25th grand slam and ultimately unseating Maragaret Court, with whom he currently shares the record, as he reaches his 13th Australian Open semi-final and keeps that aspiration alive with an 11th Aussie crown in Melbourne.
Without a doubt he should have been a winner today Novak Djokovic
After securing his first three rounds with solid straight set wins, the Serbian then suffered a walkover from Jakub Mensik in his quarter-final match and now slips into the last four when fifth-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti retired in the third game of their third set with an injured right leg and had to forfeit the match when leading by two sets.
Following Novak Djokovic’s hollow 4-6 3-6 3-1 win, a possible semi-final clash with another Italian Jannik Sinner is now on the agenda, but he is yet to get past in-form American Ben Shelton in their quarter-final scheduled for later in the day.
That potential clash was heralded as the big blockbuster of the past two weeks, but now, given his latest result and performance, that might now turn out to be a bit of a damp squid!
Speaking on court after Musetti’s retirement, Djokovic was very honest.
“I don’t know what to say other than I feel sorry for him and he was a much better player.
“I was on my way home tonight. This kind of thing happens in sports. It’s happened to me a few times, but to be in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, two sets to love and to be in complete control, it’s so unfortunate. I don’t know what else I can say and I really wish him a speedy recovery. He should have been a winner today without a doubt.”
(Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images)
Musetti also found it difficult to express his disappointment as he was on the verge of beating the Serbian at a major for the first time in his career, having lost in all three of their previous meetings.
He was the better player throughout the match and despite treatment on his right upper leg the pain increased to uncontrollable levels.
“I felt it at the beginning of the second set,” Musetti revealed in his post-match press conference. “I felt like there was something strange in my right leg. I kept playing because I was playing very, very, very well, but I felt the pain increasing and the problem didn’t go away.”
“At the end, when I took the medical timeout to stay for three minutes, I sat down, and when I started playing again, I felt even more and the pain became higher and higher. So I can’t say much about it.”
Novak Djokovic expresses his condolences to Lorenzo Musetti
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
It was a sad way to end his run at the Aussie Open, where he played his first quarter-final in Melbourne. Fortune was certainly not on his side as he suffered the injury that marred the best moment yet in the 23-year-old’s career.
“Certainly, yes,” Musetti agreed. “To be honest, I could never have imagined the feeling of leading two sets to zero against Novak and playing like that. Being in the lead in the match like that and being forced to retire is something that I of course could never have imagined. It is of course very painful.”
Lorenzo Musetti receives medical treatment on his leg
(Photo by DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images)
He then explained why he didn’t continue playing: “It [the injury] was a bit too high so it was impossible to record it. I know my body and I personally feel a little confident that this is a tear, unfortunately.
Meanwhile, Djokovic sails into the semi-finals and continues to rack up stats in what remains a remarkable career with 1,400 tour victories to his name, matched only by Roger Fderer and Jimmy Connors. .
The 38-year-old former world number 1 is now the third man to have competed in 1,400 matches at tour level, joining Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors. Furthermore, he has now surpassed Federer in the most wins at the AO with 103 wins.
Can he extend that? His next opponent could learn from Musetti, who didn’t let him find a rhythm.
“The strategy worked very well for the first few matches, but then it completely changed,” Djokovic said. “Four winners in the first two games and no unnecessary mistakes. In the rest of the game I had another four winners and probably forty mistakes. But that’s what Lorenzo does to you.”
“He makes you play. When you think the point is over, it’s not. Of course, a bit more wind today, swirling conditions, and when you attack him you don’t know what to expect… What can I say. I did my best. Yes, I have a blister here and there, but nothing really bothered me. I just didn’t feel the ball today in the first few sets, but that’s also because of his quality and his variety of play. I’m just extremely lucky to get through this today.”
Luck was certainly on the Serbian’s side.
#Melbourne #Djokovic #scores #hollow #victory #reaches #semifinals