Lorenzo Musetti, an Italian national, bagged the biggest win of his career to date at the 2023 Monte Carlo Open.
The 16th seed surprisingly defeated world number 1 Novak Djokovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the second Masters 1000 tournament of his career at the Monte Carlo Open, after qualifying for the quarter-finals at the Paris Masters. season 2022.
Competing in wet and windy conditions on Court Rainier III, the 21-year-old broke Serbian Djokovic eight times in a match that lasted 2 hours 54 minutes. After converting a fourth match point opportunity, the emotional tennis player looked at his team and shook his head in disbelief.
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“I tried very hard not to cry,” admits Musetti. “It’s an emotional win because it was a really long match. The match lasted 3 hours and was postponed by rain. It wasn’t easy conditions as it was a bit windy and cold. It’s not like the conditions we’ve been used to playing in lately. I feel really proud of myself and I can see it on the monitor. I’m trying so hard not to cry because it’s a dream for me.”
After dropping the first set, the Italian came back from 2-4 in the second before leveling the match. She hit with offense and stunning depth to force Djokovic into 11 unforced errors in the set, then continued to play at high intensity after a 59-minute rain delay at the start of the third set to claim her second career top-5 victory.
“I couldn’t find the right balance on serve. I think we returned better than served,” added Lorenzo Musetti. “The rallies at the end were really intense, really long, and it was a tough battle. Beating Novak was something extraordinary for me.”
With his ninth win of the season, Musetti are 1-3 in head to head against Djokovic. In the quarter-finals she will face compatriot Jannik Sinner for the second time after the seventh seed won their first meeting in Antwerp for the 2021 season.
