French Open 2021: Novak Djokovic survives Lorenzo Musetti scare, comes from two sets down to enter the Last 8
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Novak Djokovic
World No.1 Novak Djokovic was tested to his limit by Italian teen sensation Lorenzo Musetti in the Fourth Round of 2021 French Open. Djokovic was leading 6-7(7),6-7(2),6-1,6-0,4-0 before the Italian retired. With his emphatic win, Djokovic reaches quarterfinal at Roland Garros for the 15th time.
The first set started with a lot of intensity shown from both players. They were taking chances on each other’s serve, but both managed to hold serve upfront. But it was Djokovic who struck first and broke Musetti in the fourth game only to be broken back by the young Italian the very next game. Musetti was hitting very well and matching Djokovic stroke by stroke, even outplaying him at time.
The tight set went into the tie-breaker as both were serving very well. The story was the same in the tie breaker as nobody was ready to make an error. But a rare mistake from Djokovic handed Musetti a mini-break and he consolidated it to win the opening set 7-6(7).
Djokovic seemed to be shook by Musetti’s clean hitting. The second set saw his level dip as he was broken by Musetti in the 4th game. But a string of errors from Musetti in the very next game saw the World No.1 getting the break back. Both players held serve for the remainder of the set and forced yet another tie breaker. But this time, Musetti went beast mode all of a sudden, hitting winners and dropping just 2 points in the tie break to win the second set and take a 2-0 lead.
Djokovic stages a perfect comeback
Musetti was just a set away from upsetting the World No.1 on his very first attempt, but Djokovic wasn’t done yet. He took a medical timeout after the second set, and came out fresh. He broke Musetti upfront and took a 3-1 lead. There was no looking back from the 18-time grand slam Champion thereafter. He won the next three games and took the 3rd set in just 24 minutes.
Djokovic had found his momentum and an inexperienced Musetti aided him well. There was no looking back for him as he swamped past Musetti in the fourth set, bageling him.
The 19-year old was struggling physically and took a medical timeout too after the fourth set but nothing helped as Djokovic was in no mood for mercy, hitting winners left, right and center, leaving Musetti a sitting duck. The Italian eventually retired trailing 0-4 in the fifth set. He sure couldn’t win the match, but has proved it to everyone that he is the one for the future!
Novak Djokovic will take on yet another Italian, Matteo Berrettini in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Also read: French Open 2021: Coco Gauff makes it to her first ever grand slam quarterfinal, defeats Ons Jabeur
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Lakshya Chopra
(2650 Articles Published)