Novak Djokovic has some eyebrow-raising words ahead of Jannik Sinner clash as he advances to the semi-finals after Lorenzo Musetti retired with injury

“These are the moments [that] You are practicing for. You wake up in the morning and look forward to hopefully playing a good match. If you want to win you have to do your best, so I’m looking forward to that.

“We’re still lucky here that Novak is playing incredible tennis at his age. It’s going to be a great fight, but of course it’s going to be very difficult.”

Sinner leads Djokovic at 6-4 but is unbeaten in four matches over the past two years, starting with defeat at the Australian Open.

He has great respect for the 24-time grand slam winning legend, who turns 39 in May and was one of his inspirations growing up.

Djokovic will play on the trot in his fifth major semifinal, although some fortunes depended on Lorenzo Musetti retiring due to an adductor injury while leading Djokovic by two sets. But he hasn’t won a major championship since the 2023 US Open.

“He is, in my opinion, the most professional athlete we have in the locker room,” Sinner said of Djokovic.

“I also try to be as professional as possible. Obviously he has a lot of experience. You see him on the field, [and] He knows how to handle every situation in the best possible way.

“As a 24-year-old, I’m lucky to have someone like him in front of my eyes and hopefully I can learn something. I feel like every day, every time he plays, I can learn something about him, about Carlos and about all the other great players.”

Even though Djokovic is in the twilight of a unique career, he is as good a player as anyone on the tour not named Alcaraz or Sinner.

The Serb shared four matches with Alcaraz, including winning the Paris Olympic gold medal match, but had more problems with Sinner, whose similar playing style led super coach Patrick Mouratoglou to label him “Novak Djokovic 2.0”.

Alcaraz’s new serve also bears uncanny similarities to Djokovic’s serve.

But after running away from the Musetti match, Djokovic took offense to a question in the post-match media conference that tried to liken his “chasing” of Alcaraz and Sinner to the old days when he tried to puncture the Federer-Nadal duo, which he eventually succeeded in doing.

“I find it a little disrespectful that you missed what happened in between,” Djokovic said.

“There’s probably a period of about 15 years where I dominated the grand slams, so I think it’s important to put that in perspective. I don’t feel like I’m chasing, to be honest.”

“Roger and Rafa will always be my biggest rivals. I have great respect for what Jannik and Carlos are doing… are they better than me and the other guys at the moment? Yes, they are. The quality and level is amazing. It’s amazing, it’s phenomenal.”

“But does that mean I’m going to come out with the white flag? No. I’m going to fight to the last shot, to the last point, and do my best to challenge them.”
-Marc McGowan

‘He should have been the winner today’: Djokovic reached the semi-finals with extraordinary scenes

Scott Spits

Djokovic’s hopes of an 11th Australian Open title remain alive after reaching the semi-finals in stunning scenes earlier on Wednesday when Musetti retired with an injury after leading to love in two sets.

The champion Serbian knew he had a great chance as he pursued the title he first won in 2008.

“I was heading home tonight,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview after the match’s surprising result.

“I don’t know what to say other than I feel really sorry for him [Musetti].

“It’s very unfortunate. I really wish him a speedy recovery. He was a much better player.”

“He should have been the winner today, I have no doubt.”

Djokovic, 38, also benefited from a fourth-round victory but suddenly found himself in the last four with a chance of a place in another Australian Open final against the winner of Jannik Sinner’s clash with Ben Shelton.

World No.5 Musetti took a medical timeout early in the third set in front of a shocked Rod Laver Arena crowd. He made a massage while trailing 1-3 in the set, and although he was ahead 6-4, 6-3, 1-3, he soon withdrew from the match.

The 23-year-old Italian, who had previously managed just four more points, looked dejected and cautiously walked towards the goal to shake hands with Djokovic and exit the Open.

Djokovic said he only realized Musetti had been blocked in the final set of the match.

“Honestly, the first time I saw him struggle a little bit was when I broke his serve in the third game of the third set,” Djokovic said.

“I didn’t feel like it affected his game too much in the second set.”

The Serbian athlete also had a blister on his right foot, but he said that it did not affect his performance much.

“You always have some little problems with your body, at least for me every day, [but none stopping me] “I can play and move the way I want,” Djokovic said.

In his on-court interview immediately following his stroke of luck, Djokovic said: “I’ll definitely double my prayers tonight. [and show] I thank God for giving me this opportunity once again.

“I will do my best to use it in a few days.

“I’m definitely not happy with my performance today but hopefully in a few days I can show up and do my best because that’s what’s needed.”

The Serbian returned to the field after a long break following the departure of his fourth-round opponent Jakub Mensik on Sunday, and his freshness showed in different stages of the match.

“The first two games I had four wins and no unforced errors, then the rest of the game I had four more wins and probably made 40 mistakes. That’s what Lorenzo does to you, [he] It makes you play when you think the game is over,” Djokovic said.

“When you attack him, you don’t know what to expect, whether it’s going to be a pass, cross-court, a short pass, going completely straight inside your body, or hitting a spin ball into my weakest shot, which is my overhead shot.

“I tried to do my best… I couldn’t feel the ball in the first few sets today, but that’s also due to his quality and variety of play. I’m extremely lucky to be able to get through that.”

Before Wednesday’s last eight match, Djokovic had spent just six hours and 59 minutes on the court. In contrast, Musetti spent more than 12 hours on the field. Musetti’s opponent in the first round, Raphael Collignon, withdrew from the game in the fourth set of the match. The Italian needed five sets to beat Tomas Machac in the third round and faced an injured Taylor Fritz in the fourth round.

With the quarter-final result at midfield in two hours and eight minutes, Djokovic recorded his 103rd Australian Open singles victory, eclipsing Roger Federer’s record.

Bitterly disappointed, Musetti walked cautiously into the media conference and then revealed that he felt the injury after the first set and that it was getting progressively worse.

“I felt like there was something wrong with my right leg. I kept playing because I was playing really, really well, but I felt the pain was increasing and the problem wasn’t going away,” he said.

“Finally, when I took the medical break… [sat down] And when I started playing again I felt [it] even more and [it] The level of pain was increasing.”

The two-time major semi-finalist said it was likely a muscle tear in his upper leg. Asked to pinpoint the exact point, Musetti said: “Not me. [a] Doctor, but it’s kind of… I don’t know if it’s the adductor or… I don’t know.”

Wednesday’s dramatic events mark the final chapter in Djokovic’s extraordinary relationship with Melbourne and the Australian Open. He won his first major 18 years ago at Rod Laver Arena, and since 2011 the 24-time major winner has had an outstanding success rate.

Apart from a shocking second-round defeat to Denis Istomin in 2017, a fourth-round exit to South Korea’s Chung Hyeon the following year and an epic quarter-final defeat to champion Stan Wawrinka in 2014, Djokovic has reached the semi-finals or better every year at Melbourne Park since then.

Deported from Australia on the eve of the tournament four years ago, Djokovic’s record at the year’s first major bears similarities to Rafael Nadal’s 14 wins at Roland-Garros, despite his chances of another Australian Open title being dramatically thwarted.

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