MELBOURNE, Australia – Novak Djokovic has advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the 13th time after Lorenzo Musetti retired with an injury in the third set after winning the first two sets of their quarterfinal on Wednesday night.
Musetti, the No. 5 seed at Melbourne Park, was leading Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 1-2 when he took a medical timeout for treatment on his upper right leg.
He played through another match, but walked to the net and shook Djokovic’s hand moments later, trailing 1-3 in the third set.
Djokovic will continue his bid for an 11th Australian title and a record 25th major, but he says he was lucky this time.
“I don’t know what to say, except that I really feel sorry for him,” the 38-year-old Djokovic said in an on-court interview. “He was the much better player; I was on my way home tonight.”
“Things like this happen in sports. It’s happened to me a few times,” he added, but “without a doubt he should have been a winner today.”
Djokovic took an early break and was one point away from taking a 3–0 lead in the first set before Musetti responded and took control of the match.
The situation seemed to become even more dire for Djokovic when he needed a medical timeout after the second set due to a serious blister on the ball of his right foot. He didn’t try too hard either.
“A blister here and there, I don’t have any problems, I just didn’t really feel the ball today,” Djokovic said.
It is the second time in as many matches that Djokovic, who had reached the quarter-finals without dropping a set, advanced due to an injured opponent. Just a few days ago, he was given a walkover to the quarterfinals when Jakub Mensik withdrew with an abdominal injury 24 hours before the scheduled fourth-round match.
Djokovic will play the winner of the later quarter-final between No. 8 Ben Shelton and two-time defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner on Wednesday.
Jake Michaels of ESPN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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