“Made me uncomfortable,” Novak Djokovic heaps praise on Lorenzo Musetti after defeating him in a late-night thriller at French Open

Novak Djokovic is competing in a must-win French Open to save his season halfway into the year. But, he was a few hours from exiting the French Open in the early hours of today. However, the Serbian somehow found the inner strength to beat Italian starlet Lorenzo Musetti in the third round.

Musetti had earlier set the stage for the match after declaring he would want to beat Djokovic so his fellow countryman Jannik Sinner could be No.1. But, the match didn’t go the way many fans had expected, with Djokovic winning the first set and then losing the next two set. The fourth set was critical for Djokovic to stay alive in the match and he did that with impeccable excellence.

The Italian’s strength had dwindled in the final set and it made things easy for Djokovic to complete the comeback 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in four hours and twenty-nine minutes. The Serbian celebrated the win with a warm embrace with Lorenzo Musetti after the match. The final two sets perhaps might have rekindled the 37-year-old’s form but it will be tested later on in the tournament.

Following the victory, Djokovic was full of praise for the 22-year-old Italian. He admitted that he felt real trouble against a high-level player as he was in the third round of the French Open.

Well, I was in real trouble. Credit to Lorenzo (Musetti) for making me uncomfortable on court and playing some really amazing tennis, really high level. At one point, I didn’t know what to do. From both ends, he was getting a lot of balls back, winners from both corners, good serves, running every ball down the court.

Novak Djokovic said via tennis365

Djokovic will play Argentina’s No.23 seed Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round of the Roland Garros. The Serbian is hoping to win his first title of the season and a fourth French Open.

Novak Djokovic aimed to recover as soon as possible after winning third round match at 3:08 am

Novak Djokovic was less worried despite finishing his match against Lorenzo Musetti at 3:08 am on Sunday in Paris. The match which began at around 22:40, was two hours behind schedule after Grigor Dimitrov and Zizou Bergs had finished late due to rain.

However, after the victory, Djokovic revealed that he would be aiming to recover as soon as possible for his fourth-round match.

But there’s beauty as well, I guess, winning a match at 3:30am… If it’s the last one of the tournament. But it’s not, so I’m going to have to switch on all of my young genes and try to recover as soon as possible.

Novak Djokovic added

Meanwhile, the 24-time Grand Slam is slated to meet his first tough opponent in the quarterfinals, which is Casper Ruud. The Serbian lost to the Norwegian at the Monte Carlo Masters.

In case you missed it:

• WATCH: Novak Djokovic’s wife Jelena ecstatically celebrates her husband’s late-night win in the third round of the French Open
• “Don’t think they did a particularly good job,” Andy Murray comments on Alexander Zverev’s ongoing domestic abuse trial as he questions ATP’s policies for these situations

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