Author: Chandra Moulee Das
Lorenzo Musetti caused a major upset at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, beating world number one Novak Djokovic in three sets to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 for the second time. The 21-year-old Italian had never beaten Djokovic in three attempts before this match, but recovered from a set down to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in a match that lasted almost three hours.
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At some point, Djokovic broke his racket in frustration. Musetti took advantage of the wet and windy conditions on Court Rainier III to exploit Djokovic’s poor serving performance. He broke the Serb eight times in total, including four times in the second set. After a 59-minute rain delay, Musetti continued to play with intensity and flair to secure his second Top 5 win of his career.
An emotional Musetti said in his interview on the court: “It’s an exciting victory, because it was a very long match. I’m very proud of myself and I can see it on the screen. I’m struggling not to cry, because it’s a dream for me.” He also acknowledged the difficult conditions, saying: “It wasn’t easy conditions, because it was windy and cold. Not like we used to play in the last few days.“
With this win, Musetti improved to 1-3 in his ATP Head2Head series against Djokovic. He will then face his compatriot Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals. Djokovic, who was seeking his 39th ATP Masters 1000 title this week, was disappointed with his performance. He won just 39% of his points on the second serve and dropped eight times, which is more than he had lost in his previous 17 matches combined this year.
Djokovic said: “The feelings after such a game are terrible. It’s not a disaster, but I’m in a bad mood because I lost. The opponent was stable in important episodes, that’s all. Congratulations to him – good luck in the future. There’s nothing more to comment on. I’m going“.
Musetti, who is ranked 20th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, would rise to 17th if he beat Sinner in the quarter-finals. This would mark a new career record for the Italian, who is in his second Masters 1000 quarter-final after reaching the last 16 in Paris in 2022.