Novak Djokovic is two wins away from a historic 25th grand slam following Tuesday night’s “lucky” win over Lorenzo Musetti, 4-6, 3-6, 3-1 (ret.) at the Australian Open. Down two sets and up a break in the third, Djokovic appeared stunned after a leg injury forced Musetti to retire.
Djokovic will play second-seeded Jannik Sinner in one semifinal while No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz battles Alexander Zverev in the other on the men’s side.
“I don’t know what to say except that I feel really sorry for him. He was the far better player. I was on my way home tonight,” Djokovic, a 10-time Australian Open champion, said after the match. “I don’t know what to say, these kind of things happen in sport, and it happened to me a few times, but being in the quarters of a Grand Slam and two sets to love up, and being in full control, I mean it’s so unfortunate.
“I don’t know what else I can say. I really wish him a speedy recovery. He should have been a winner today, no doubt.”
Musetti had lost six straight matches to Djokovic before dominating the first two sets, breaking his opponent’s first serve game while benefitting from 31 unforced errors.
“I had like four winners in the first two games and no unforced errors, and then the rest of the match I had another four winners and probably 40 errors,” Djokovic said. “That’s what Lorenzo does to you. He makes you play, and when you think the point is finished, it’s not. Obviously a little bit more wind today, swirly conditions, and when you attack him, you don’t know what to expect, whether it’s going to be a crosscourt passing shot, or short slice, or he’s going to go full flat in your body or just a looping ball to my weakest shot, which is my overhead, which I think we’ve seen today again.”
Sinner cruises against Ben Shelton
The last remaining American on the men’s side, Shelton went down to Sinner’s big serve and razor-sharp consistency, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. After previously losing only one set in the tournament, eight-seeded Shelton couldn’t find an answer for Sinner’s crosscourt expertise and relentless power.
Sinner went at Shelton’s backhand throughout the match and improved to 9-1 against the hard-hitting American. He managed 18 winners and only four unforced errors in the final set. Sinner is a two-time defending Australian Open champion.
“It is very tough to play against Ben,” Sinner said. “He has a huge, huge serve and I feel like he is improving so much, year after year. Especially after the offseason, you don’t know how certain players are going to play against you and change lots of things. I am very happy with today’s performance.”
Earlier in the tournament, Sinner took advantage of a heat-related timeout to topple American Eliot Spizzirri in the third round. Up a break at 3-1 in the third inside Rod Laver Arena after splitting the first two sets, Spizzirri was in disbelief with Sinner reeling from cramps after tournament officials briefly suspended play due to excessive heat.
Jessica Pegula handles Amanda Anisimova
Sixth-seeded Pegula has not dropped a set at the Australian Open. She finished off No. 4 Anisimova with a dominant showing in a second-set tiebreak to win in straights, 6-2, 7-6. A finalist at the 2024 US Open, Pegula is into the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in her career and will face Elena Rybakina later this week.
Pegula beat American Madison Keys, the tournament’s defending champion, in the fourth round to face off with Anisimova. Pegula dominated the first set, then turned up the heat late to finish off an opponent who didn’t bring her best and was marred by a litany of unforced errors.
“I felt like I could win the rallies and I could put pressure on her serves,” Pegula said. “I just told myself to gear right back up. You’ve got to win the tiebreak unless you want to go to a third set and I really didn’t want to.”
In the other women’s semifinal, top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka takes on Elena Svitolina. Sabalenka hasn’t dropped a set in the tournament and barely broke a sweat during a quarterfinal win over American Iva Jovic, 6-3, 6-0.
Add Comment