![\"Novak](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0897647b93e0c03d97844f5c28f45052.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nNovak Djokovic had no qualms admitting he thought his Australian Open was all but over.<\/p>\n
He had lost the first two sets of his quarterfinal against Lorenzo Musetti and was hampered by a blister, which required medical treatment on Rod Laver Arena.<\/p>\n
Games were on serve early in the third set, and Musetti was seemingly on his way to the semifinals.<\/p>\n
But in the space of just over 10 minutes, it was Djokovic who found himself in the last four after a cruel twist of fate ended his opponent’s tournament.<\/p>\n
Musetti was struck down by a suspected adductor tear in his right leg, the injury having first troubled the Italian fifth seed at the beginning of the second set.<\/p>\n
He had done well to hide the injury from Djokovic, as well as the spectators in the stands, as he won the second set to lead 6-4, 6-3.<\/p>\n
Musetti called for the physio and took a medical timeout early in the third set before pushing on, but not long after, he pulled the pin on his Australian Open campaign.<\/p>\n
“He was a far better player,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview after the match.<\/p>\n
“I was on my way home tonight.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Novak Djokovic lost the first two sets against Lorenzo Musetti. (Getty Images: Clive Brunskill)<\/p>\n
Djokovic’s realisation he had caught a lucky break was still apparent when he met with reporters hours later.<\/p>\n
The 10-time Australian Open champion was subdued \u2014 even brooding at times \u2014 but he did feel empathy for Musetti.<\/p>\n
“It’s horrible, particularly when you are feeling you’re playing very well, like he was, and you can’t perform the way you want to,” Djokovic said.<\/p>\n
“It’s just your body is not letting you. That’s a hard one to swallow, but that’s the sport we are in.”<\/p>\n
![\"Lorenzo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/f0d8a58e593c6cb4a0c8311be5f44efe.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Lorenzo Musetti received treatment early in the third set. (AP: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)<\/p>\n
Musetti was devastated, knowing a first Australian Open semifinal appearance had slipped through his fingers.<\/p>\n
“I felt there was something strange in my right leg,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I continued to play because I was playing really well.<\/p>\n
“But I was feeling that the pain was increasing and the problem was not getting away.”<\/p>\n
Musetti’s injury history<\/p>\n
It is not the first time Musetti has retired injured at a major.<\/p>\n
In his main-draw debut at the 2021 French Open, Musetti \u2014 aged 19 at the time \u2014 was forced out of his fourth-round match against Djokovic in the fifth set.<\/p>\n
Only last year, he was struck down again at Roland-Garros, having retired in his semifinal against eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz because of an upper-leg injury.<\/p>\n
“We have done all the exams and tests before starting the season to try and prevent these kind of injuries,” Musetti said.<\/p>\n
“They (doctors) say nothing came out, so I honestly have no words to describe how I’m feeling right now, and how tough it is for me, this injury in this moment.”<\/p>\n
![\"Lorenzo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4165d65752c4fb18fbafe10b0f664588.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Lorenzo Musetti cut a dejected figure after deciding to retire. (AP: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)<\/p>\n
Djokovic had advanced to the quarterfinals after Czech 16th seed Jakub Men\u0161\u00edk withdrew from their round-of-16 match.<\/p>\n
The former world number one will play two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.<\/p>\n
Djokovic, 38, is mindful of what he must do to reach an 11th final at Melbourne Park.<\/p>\n
“I don’t want to take out anything from Musetti’s variety that he put in and the quality of tennis he put in today,” said Djokovic, who is the fourth seed.<\/p>\n
“It was great, for sure. But I think I’ve underperformed for the level that I showed throughout this tournament up to today.<\/p>\n
“So I have to play better. No doubt about it.<\/p>\n
“I know that if I’m feeling well and the body is holding on, and I’m playing well, then I always have a chance.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic had no qualms admitting he thought his Australian Open was all but over. He had lost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,6571,21693,754,28258,44,3592,81246,221809,25906,747],"class_list":["post-442769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-open","tag-ben-shelton","tag-jannik-sinner","tag-lorenzo-musetti","tag-news","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-quarterfinal","tag-rod-laver-arena","tag-semifinal","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}