Lorenzo Musetti’s bid to secure his first Grand Slam victory over Novak Djokovic ended in heartbreak on Wednesday at the Australian Open, as the Italian was forced to retire despite holding a commanding two-set lead.
Musetti was ahead 6–4, 6–3, 1–3 in their quarter-final clash on Rod Laver Arena when he suffered an apparent injury to his upper right leg early in the third set. After receiving treatment from the physio at 1–2, the 23-year-old attempted to continue but ultimately had to withdraw after two hours and eight minutes of play.
“I don’t know what to say except that I feel really sorry for him,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “He was a far better player today. I was basically on my way home. Being two sets up in a Grand Slam quarter-final and in full control, it’s incredibly unfortunate. He deserved to win, no doubt. I wish him a speedy recovery.”
Musetti had entered the match having lost all three of his previous Grand Slam meetings with Djokovic, but he delivered an outstanding performance to take control early. After falling behind 0–2 in the opening set, he won six of the next eight games and went on to break Djokovic’s serve five times across the first two sets. The Serbian struggled to find rhythm with his aggressive baseline strategy, committing a high number of unforced errors.
“The strategy worked for the first couple of games, then it completely changed,” Djokovic said. “Lorenzo makes you play every point. Even when you think it’s over, it’s not. The conditions were tricky, but his quality and variety made it very difficult.”
By stepping onto court, Djokovic became only the third man—after Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer—to play 1,400 tour-level matches. He also moved past Federer to claim the outright record for the most Australian Open singles match wins, with 103.
However, Djokovic acknowledged that he will need to significantly improve his level in the semi-finals, where he will face either two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton. The 38-year-old is chasing a record-extending 11th Australian Open title and a 25th Grand Slam crown overall. He is now the second-oldest men’s singles semi-finalist in Australian Open history, behind only Ken Rosewall.
For Musetti, the injury was especially cruel. Had he reached the semi-finals, he would have risen to No. 3 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. He also became the first player in the Open Era to retire from a Grand Slam quarter-final after winning the first two sets.