Australian Open: Novak Djokovic makes confession after Lorenzo Musetti heartbreak
Novak Djokovic looked to be on his way out of the 2026 Australian Open, but then his opponent Lorenzo Musetti was hit by
misfortune and his bid to win a 25th Grand Slam title remains alive.
Djokovic had dominated their previous encounters as he had a 9-1 lead in their head-to-head rivalry with his most recent win coming in the Hellenic Championship final last November, but Musetti promised to take revenge.
“Hopefully, I’ll take my revenge, because last time in Athens we were really, really close. I feel like I have another chance now,” he stated.
And he was certainly up for a revenge mission as after going down an early break, Djokovic was played off the court by the world No 5 as the Italian dominated the first two sets for a 6-4, 6-3 lead against the tennis great.
After both held serve in the first two games of the third set, Musetti started struggling with his leg and was broken to love in the third game. He called for a medical timeout at the changeover and received treatment to his groin.
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The 23-year-old attempted to continue and Djokovic held his serve, but his match came to a heartbreaking end with the score 1-3 [15-40] in the Serbian’s favour as he retired, handing the Serbian the win and a place in the semi-final.
The 10-time Australian Open champion applauded Musetti off the court and said during his post-match interview: “I don’t know what to say except for I feel sorry for him. He was the far better player, I was on my way home tonight.
“Don’t know what to say, these kind of things happen in sport. It happened to me a few times. You know, being in quarters of a Grand Slam up, two sets to love up and being in full control. I mean, so unfortunate.
“I don’t know what else to say. I wish him a speedy recovery and he should’ve been the winner today no doubt.”
The fourth seed now awaits the winner of the match between two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton.
He will certainly be the fresher player in the semi-final as he only played 11 and a half sets so far as he won his three opening matches in straight sets and then had a walkover into the last four after Jakub Mensik withdrew from the tournament due to injury.
