By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, April 13, 2023
Lorenzo Musetti broke eight times stunning world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 to set up an all-Italian Monte-Carlo quarterfinal vs. buddy Jannik Sinner.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
In an epic tennis turf war, Lorenzo Musetti conjured magical strikes down the stretch to make Novak Djokovic disappear.
In a fierce and unruly clash between Monte-Carlo residents, Musetti broke eight times shocking Djokovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 for his first career win over a reigning world No. 1 to secure his spot in the Rolex Monte-Carlo quarterfinals.
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Facing the 22-time Grand Slam champion he had never beaten, swirling conditions that wreaked havoc on ball tosses, a rain-delay at the start of the final set and draining physical rallies after play resumed, Musetti held his nerve and stung two of his six aces in the final game to close an emotional triumph.
Playing with a black wrapping around his right elbow, a disconsolate Djokovic was brief in his post-match presser.
"Well, feeling is terrible after playing like this, honestly," Djokovic told the media in Monte-Carlo. "But congrats to him.
"He stayed tough in important moments, and that's it. That's all I can say. Good luck to him."
"I'm struggling to not cry because it's really an emotional win," Musetti said in his on-court interview. "Because it was a really long match, three hours of match, suspended because of the rain.
"For sure, it was not easy conditions, it was a bit windy at the beginning and cold so not like we're used to playing in the last days. So I think it counts maybe twice. So I'm really, really, really proud of myself. I can see that on the screen and I'm struggling not to cry because it's still a dream for me."
At times, this baseline battle featured more breaks than a Sara Errani match.
The pair combined for 15 service breaks, including Djokovic breaking four times in a row in one stretch, and ultimately Musetti's ability to defend his second serve better proved pivotal.
The 21-year-old Italian hit five more winners—28 to 23—and won 51 percent of his service points. Musetti now owns career wins over No. 1 Djokovic and former No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, whom he defeated last season to win his maiden clay crown in Hamburg.
Two-time Monte-Carlo champion Djokovic, playing just his second match in the last five weeks, showed rust on serve winning only 12 of 31 second-serve points.
Bidding to break Fognini's record and become the oldest Monte-Carlo champion in history, Djokovic lacked the consistency that comes from match play and ran out of answers against a fit and fast Musetti, who rode the wave of Italian fans screaming for the upset.
"I don't think it's catastrophic, but my feeling is bad right now because I lost the match," Djokovic said. "That's all. Congrats to my opponent. I move on."
Djokovic tried to attack more in the latter stages, but Musetti cracked a couple of firecracker forehands scoring the key break for a 4-3 lead in the decider.
Magic man Musetti fought off a break point and converted his fourth match point for a two hour, 54-minute triumph and a dream realized that will last a lifetime.
"I think I couldn't find the right balance especially with the toss at the beginning," Musetti said. I think it was for both of us that we were returning better than we were serving.
"But the rallies were really intense, they were really long and it was a tough battle even for the physical part and mental part and beating someone No. 1 as Novak it's really remarkable for me."
An electric upset sets up a blockbuster all-Italian quarterfinal vs. good buddy Jannik Sinner.
In a rematch of the 2021 Miami Open final, Sinner saved a match point roaring back from a set and a break down for a 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-1 victory over his friend and sometime practice partner Hubert Hurkacz.
Two-time Miami finalist Sinner raised his record to 23-5 on the season. Sinner beat Musetti 7-5, 6-2 in their lone ATP meeting indoors at the 2021 Antwerp tournament on hard courts. Their quarterfinal clash will feature much slower conditions on Monte-Carlo's red clay.
"For sure it's gonna be fun, but I don't want to think too much now I just want to enjoy at least a half hour the win," said Musetti, who joined Dominic Thiem as the second man to rally from a set down to defeat Djokovic in Monte-Carlo. "I will rest and and recover and I will be ready for the next battle with a friend with an Italian.
"One Italian will go through to the semifinals so I'm happy for the Italian tennis and the Italian Federation."
Musetti used the slower surface, his smooth movement, bold serving down the stretch and recent sharp surge—he dished out a double-bagel to compatriot Luca Nardi yesterday—to unsettle Djokovic, who looked a little cranky throwing his water bottle of his court-side seat at one point and was huffing and puffing after some extended rallies. That's not surprising given Djokovic was playing just his second clay-court match in about 11 months.
Playing before an exuberant crowd, including Italian tennis royalty—2015 US Open champion Flavia Pennetta and her husband, the 2019 Monte-Carlo champion Fabio Fognini, and former NBA all-star Tony Parker, this was a wild, sloppy, rain-interrupted and sometime downright messy match.
Musetti withstood some shaky serving, a long stretch where he could not buy a service hold and stubborn self-sabotage continuously trying to drop shot the world No. 1 by finding his first serve and crushing some timely flying forehands in the final set to carve out the break.
a tricky wind created issues on the service toss and at times both guys looked like they were just The pair traded breaks in the fourth and fifth games with Djokovic breaking first. The top seed played a sloppy game—badly botching a drop shot and netting a backhand—to give back the break in the fifth game.
Djokovic was hitting higher loopier forehands to keep the Italian back behind the baseline. The man wearing the backward baseball cap sprayed a series of shots as Djokovic scored his second straight break for 4-2.
Hitting probing drives from proactive positions on court, Djokovic was directing rallies as he confirmed the break at 15 for 5-2.
Mixing deep drives with dabs of drop shots, Djokovic used a drop shot-forehand pass combination cleverly as he earned a set point in the eighth game. Musetti saved it, but Djokovic leaned into a two-hander down the line for a second set point. Musetti whipped the wide serve to deny it and scraped through a tense game holding for 3-5.
The flashy Musetti erased a third set point lashing a forehand winner down the line then caught a break when Djokovic nudged a mis-hit return into net to face a break point. A funky bounce sent Djokovic stretching for a flick reply and Musetti pounced on a diagonal forehand breaking back in the ninth game.
Of course a break is not really a break until you hold to make it stand. A defiant Djokovic spit back everything the Italian hit at him earning triple set point in the 10th game. Musetti saved two more set points—by then he fought off five set points in all—but the Italian's inability to land his first serve proved costly.
Keeping calm, Djokovic pounced on a net-cord shot then threw down a smash to convert his sixth set point to take a one-set lead after 52 minutes. The pair combined for five breaks in 10 games in a set that started a bit sloppy and ended with some sweeping points.
Though Musetti owns fine feel the drop shot was not his friend today. Djokovic thumped a smash then raised his arms to the crowd in a combination of relief and celebration holding for 3-2.
Swinging more freely and anticipating well, Djokovic ran down another Musetti drop-shot attempt, scoring his fourth consecutive break for 4-2.
The finish line loomed, but Musetti wasn't done yet. Extending points and working the width of the court, Musetti exploited the Serbian superstar's rust and a few errors breaking back in the seventh game as fans waved Italian flags in encouragement.
An hour, 40 minutes into the match, Djokovic engaged in a brief argument with chair umpire Aurélie Tourte who ruled a Musetti shot touched the baseline. Djokovic, who had circled a mark that was long, repeatedly asked where the ball touched the line. Hawk-Eye replay showed the ball landed long. Musetti capitalized on that call and slashed an ace to cap a love hold for 4-all.
Struggling to string together successive games, Djokovic was slipping and sliding and his level was dipping. A double fault and netted drive put the top seed in a break-point bind. Musetti varied his spins in the ensuing rally then zapped his one-hander down the line breaking for the fourth time in the set to edge ahead 5-4.
Serving to force a final set, Musetti went up 30-love only to see Djokovic carve out a excellent backhand drop volley for 30-all. The top seed banged a backhand down the line for break point. Musetti capped a horrendous game spraying a forehand as Djokovic broke right back to level after 10 games.
An unsettled Djokovic could not create closure on serve.
Remarkably, Musetti broke for a fifth time spinning some devious drives down the line to go up 6-5. This time, Musetti sealed the deal forcing a final set on a netted Djokovic drive.
Two games into the decider, Djokovic was stretching for a backhand when he tilted left like a tennis leaning tower of pisa, and toppled over to the clay.
That fall left a swath of red clay streaked across the back of his salmon-colored shirt. Djokovic took a break to wash clay off his hand and tossed his water bottle against the seat in disgust. that action brought a few jeers from Italian fans as Musetti came back from 15-30 down holding for one apiece.
Rain intensified forcing a delay with the decisive set deadlocked.
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When play resumed, conditions were calmer. So too was Djokovic at the start of resumption.
Slamming his first ace down the T, Djokovic sealed a loved hold for a 3-2 lead in the final set.
The shotmaking magic Musetti can summon off both wings can make him a wonder to watch on clay and slower hard courts where he has time to conjure creativity.
Launching himself into a flying forehand, Musetti hit a brilliant strike for triple break point.
Two points later, Djokovic sailed a first-ball forehand as Musetti break for 4-3 bringing an eruption from Italian fans and supporters, including Musetti fired his fourth ace wide to help back up the break at 15 for 5-3.
Serving for the upset, Musetti slashed a pair of aces for double match point. On the first match point, he sailed a forehand. On his second match point, Musetti missed a forehand long off his back foot.
Seeing that slight crack, Djokovic kicked open a chasm. A lunging backhand return set up a brilliant backhand pass to give the Serbian a break point. An off-balance Djokovic spilled a forehand wide.
A Djokovic backhand missed the mark as Musetti, who was grunting with greater fervor, gained match point number three only to badly shank a backhand off his back foot.
Tension tightened and the world No. 1 blinked brain-cramping on a drop shot miss to face a fourth match point.
When Djokovic netted a backhand return, Musetti shook his head as if in disbelief pulling off the dream comeback against a rusty world No. 1.