Lorenzo Musetti confesses he had to KILL Novak Djokovic ’10 times’ following breakthrough Monte Carlo victory

Lorenzo Musetti admits he had to win against Novak Djokovic many times over to finally emerge victorious against him.

Lorenzo Musetti confesses he had to KILL Novak Djokovic ’10 times’ following breakthrough Monte Carlo victory

Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti (Image Credit: FirstSportz Graphic Team)

Novak Djokovic can be a tough opponent to beat for any player on any given day. However, Lorenzo Musetti was able to achieve this important feat recently at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The young Italian defeated the current World No.1 despite losing the first set 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in his Round of 16 match.

The Serbian was not playing at his best as he was seen wearing a strap on his right arm, sparking rumors that his previous elbow injury may have resurfaced. Meanwhile, Lorenzo Musetti is in a jubilant mood following his victory. When he was asked about his thoughts on the way Novak Djokovic played in this match, he refused to believe that any injury concerns with the 22-time Grand Slam champion may have strangled him in any manner.

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“I don’t know honestly. He’s always such a unique player. You can never count him out. I think somehow we were both struggling at the beginning, because the conditions were not easy to play. There was a lot of wind. Was cold. Even the balls and the conditions were completely different from the other days and from the past day,” the 21-year-old said.

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“So probably I think our highest level especially in the match was at the end or at the end of the second set, and in the third set we were serving better. We were I think having more rallies, long rallies. At the end I’m happy with the win, and I didn’t focus too much on him. I just had to think of what I had to do to beat him. Even if he plays bad, he’s still the No. 1 in the world, so you can never count him out and you have to kill him like 10 times,” he continued.

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Lorenzo Musetti earns his first victory against Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti (Image Credit: FirstSportz Graphic Team)
Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti (Image Credit: FirstSportz Graphic Team)

The young Italian and the Serb have met four times on the court in their respective careers. The first encounter between the two took place at the French Open 2021. In the Round of 16 match, Novak Djokovic prevailed over Lorenzo Musetti despite the Italian winning the first two sets. He had almost put the Serbian’s campaign at Roland Garros in jeopardy, but had to retire after losing the next two sets.

Novak Djokovic won the French Open men’s singles title for the second time in his career that year. The two met twice in 2022, at the Dubai Tennis Championships and at the Paris Masters. In both matches, Novak Djokovic registered victory.

However, at the Monte-Carlo Masters 2023, for the first time, Lorenzo Musetti was able to defeat Djokovic, that too convincingly. He will take on compatriot Jannik Sinner in the next round of this competition.

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