Tennis is a brutal sport, and nowhere was that more obvious than in the early hours of Wednesday (ET) at the Australian Open when Lorenzo Musetti was forced to retire with a two set lead over Novak Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic had his back against the wall but still reaches the semi-finals as Lorenzo Musetti is forced to retire through injury.#AO26 pic.twitter.com/wtpfGQ7msg
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) January 28, 2026
Musetti was playing outstanding tennis when he took an injury timeout for what appeared to be a groin issue in the third set. After that, he tried to shorten the points but ultimately could not finish the match.
Absolute heartbreak for Lorenzo Musetti 💔
The Italian was 2-0 up against Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open quarter-final before being forced to retire with injury 😰 pic.twitter.com/qCtSnDt4Ai
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) January 28, 2026
Djokovic advances to the semifinals in the most peculiar way; he got the walkover in the Round of 16 when Jakub Mensik withdrew from injury and did not win a set in the quarterfinal.
Novak Djokovic is chasing the only piece of history he has yet to make, winning his record-breaking 25th Grand Slam. If there was ever an opportunity to do it, this should be it. Prior to the Musetti match, he spent less than 7 hours on the court in his earlier rounds; whereas Musetti was at over 12 hours.
He should be the most rested of the final four though he sometimes battled fatigue and blisters and other issues in Melbourne against Musetti.
There is little to say about Musetti except the situation is remniscent of Grigor Dimitrov who had a two set lead on Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon before he got injured and had to retire. Sinner went on to win Wimbledon.
Musetti v Djokovic was just like Sinner vs Dimitrov at Wimbledon last year. Heartbreaking 💔 pic.twitter.com/dK2O6LCt0c
— 𝙍𝙊𝘾 (@RavensOsCelts08) January 28, 2026
Djokovic awaits the winner of the Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner quarterfinal.
No matter the circumstances, this is his best opportunity to grab the elusive 25th Grand Slam title. Can he do it? It requires two wins; the first against Shelton/Sinner winner and the second against Alcaraz/Zverev winner.
