Lorenzo Musetti into 1st Grand Slam semi, sets Djokovic clash
Lorenzo Musetti reached his first Grand Slam semifinal by eliminating Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-6 (5) 6-1 6-1, 3-6 during Wimbledon and will play Novak Djokovic next.
Jul 10, 2024 06:01 PM
Jul 10, 2024, 02:01 PM ET
WIMBLEDON, England — Lorenzo Musetti threw his head back and extended his arms out to celebrate achieving the first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon then covered his face in both hands.
His 7-6, 3-6 (5) 7-6 (5), 6-2 6-1, 3-6 win against Taylor Fritz on Wednesday was quite a feat for sure. In the end, the 25th seeded Musetti was a 22-year old from Italy has never made it past the third-round at the All England Club — or beyond the fourth round of any major tournament until the present fortnight.
The next step is the most difficult challenge to face Novak Djokovic.
“He probably knows, better than me, the surface and the stadium, for sure,” Musetti stated in a laugh, conscious that he’ll be making the Centre Court debut Friday. “Jokes apart, he’s a legend everywhere, but especially here in Wimbledon.”
This will be his record-breaking the 13th time he has played in a semifinal of Wimbledon by himself, which is equal to Roger Federer, and 49th Slam semifinal in all, which is the record he held previously. As Musetti seeks to win his first major title, Djokovic is hoping to win a 25th time which would include his eighth tournament at The All England Club.
Djokovic’s easy passage through the tournament this year was made all the more easy when the player he was expected to face in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Alex de Minaur, pulled out because of an injury to his hip minutes before their match was set to start.
Instead of facing No. 9. de Minaur this Wednesday Djokovic is set to get 3 days of rest before facing Musetti for the final on Friday. The men’s semifinal will pit the reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz against Daniil Medvedev and they will advance on to the final on Tuesday.
Musetti was required to work hard to get into the final four. 3 1/2-hour win over thirteenth seeded Fritz is the 37th time he has won a five-setter at Wimbledon that year. That’s which is the most of every Grand Slam tournament.
He admitted that he wasn’t off to a perfect beginning, but said “I played my best tennis at the end. I kept the best for the end.”
Playing at a sun-swathed No. 1 Court, against Fritz who is an American who is considered to be one of the top servers in the game, but was beaten by 0-4 in the major quarterfinals Musetti had 13 break point and converted 6. The decisive break was an forehand break by Musetti which made it 2-0 in the final set. Just a few seconds later, another break was able to make it 4-0.
The first break of Musetti’s came early at the beginning of set two and, as he explained was the catalyst that changed the course of the match.
“Immediately, I changed my mind. I changed my attitude,” Musetti stated. “And that probably made the difference.”
There wasn’t a lot of diversity between the two players; they mostly traded groundstrokes with the base. However, Musetti managed to accumulate points by dropping shots that were effective and sometimes followed them up with successful lobs or passing attempts.
Queen Camilla who is the spouse of Charles III, the King’s wife Charles III, was in the stands, and was joined by supporters in a wave.
Djokovic as well as Musetti have played at least six times before. Djokovic is the winner of five of them with a win, including a five-setter in the French Open that concluded after 3 a.m. In the next game at Paris that he pulled the meniscus on his right knee.
“We know each other pretty well. They’ve always been a huge fight, so I expect a big, big fight. It’s going to be one of the toughest challenges on tour,” Musetti declared, “but I am an ambitious guy and I like to be challenged.”