Novak Djokovic gets warning about his level from experts after ‘lucky’ Australian Open escape

Ewan West 28 Jan 2026 10:30 AM

Novak Djokovic reacts

Novak Djokovic has been warned by Jim Courier and Tim Henman that his level will need to improve in the Australian Open semi-finals after his “lucky” escape against Lorenzo Musetti.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion was trailing 4-6, 3-6, 3-1 against world No 5 Musetti in the quarter-finals on Rod Laver Arena when the Italian retired due to an injury.

Djokovic was well below his best for much of the contest and looked to be heading out of the tournament after committing 31 unforced errors in the first two sets.

Musetti had been playing inspired tennis, but he received treatment on his right leg after he was broken to fall 1-2 behind in the third set, and he was unable to continue when serving at 1-3, 15-40.

Djokovic admitted afterwards that Musetti had been “the far better player” and that he “was on my way home.”

Courier, a four-time major winner, told TNT Sports: “He (Djokovic) said as much in his post-match interview that he was going to lose that match.

“This is kind of shades of Jannik Sinner against [Grigor] Dimitrov at Wimbledon last year, right? When Dimitrov yanks his pec up two sets to love and all of a sudden Sinner advances out of nowhere.

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“So Djokovic has gotten a walkover, how he’s gotten this. He’s into the semis and he’s not injured. So that’s a win for him.

“He was not happy with his level of tennis today, very happy with his level en route to this round. He’ll be practising hard tomorrow I would suspect, getting ready for his semi-final.

“But he’s got a little bit of work to do. But he’s lucky to have it, he should be on a plane home.”

The former world No 1 added: “It is a little off putting when you see him have a down day. Maybe it’s the day off and he lost rhythm a little bit.

“If I’m on his team tomorrow, I want him to have a hard hour and try get some intensity into it. He was out of sorts and he’s not going to be able to afford that in the semi-final.”

Henman, a former world No 4, said: “He will be disappointed with his level.

“He made four Grand Slam semis last year, and then when he got to the semis he had played a lot of tennis and physically wasn’t able to sustain that level, so coming into this you are thinking he needs to get to the semis and be fresh and still have lots of energy.

“He has just had somebody pull out at two sets to love after a walkover in the previous round, so there is no doubt he is fresh – but now the question mark is his level of play, because it has been fairly ordinary.

“But if there’s anyone who can turn it on in the latter stages of a Grand Slam it’s Djokovic. That is what we need to see in the semis if he is going to advance.”

Djokovic will play either Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton in the Australian Open semi-finals.

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