I was on my way home – Novak Djokovic relieved for Australian Open reprieve
By Eleanor Crooks, Press Association Sport Correspondent, Melbourne
Novak Djokovic admitted he was heading out of the Australian Open before injury to quarter-final opponent Lorenzo Musetti earned him a dramatic reprieve.
An out-of-sorts Djokovic looked down and out, trailing by two sets to love, but Musetti sought treatment for a thigh injury after three games of the third set and played just one more game before shaking hands.
The Italian was leading 6-4, 6-3, 1-3, but it quickly became clear he was in major trouble as he barely moved to shots, and he pulled off his bandana before heading to the net.
Heartbreaking ð@DjokerNole enters the Australian Open Semi-Finals after Musetti is forced to retire at 2 sets up @AustralianOpen #AO26
pic.twitter.com/CCEv8Nn5Yx— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) January 28, 2026
Djokovic, who was forced out of last year’s semi-final here through injury, admitted he was extremely fortunate, saying: “I don’t know what to say except that I feel really sorry for him.
“He was the far better player, I was on my way home. It happened to me a few times but being in the quarters of a slam, two sets to love up, in full control, so unfortunate. I wish him a speedy recovery and he should have been the winner today no doubt.”
Musetti revealed in the press room later that he began to feel the injury at the beginning of the second set, with the pain increasing to the point of him being unable to continue.
It is not the first time the fifth seed has experienced such problems, with Musetti also pulling out during the French Open semi-finals against Carlos Alcaraz last summer.
“We have done all the exams and tests before starting the season to see and to try and prevent these kind of injuries, and then they say nothing came out, so I honestly have no words to describe how I’m feeling right now and how tough is for me this injury in this moment,” he said.
“Honestly, I never imagined the feeling of leading two sets to zero against Novak and playing like that and have the lead of the match like that and be forced to retire. Of course, it’s really painful.”
Djokovic is making his latest attempt to win a record 25th grand slam title and he may feel the stars are aligning after scheduled fourth-round opponent Jakub Mensik was unable to take to the court at all because of injury.
“I’m going to double my prayers tonight of gratitude to the God for really giving me the opportunity,” he said. “I’m going to do my best in a couple of days to use it.”
After starting the match by winning the first two games, Djokovic was unable to find anything like his best level, making 32 unforced errors.
He appeared to be the one in physical trouble when he took a medical timeout ahead of the third set for treatment to a large blister on his right foot.
“Blister here and there, nothing major bothering me, I just wasn’t really feeling the ball today,” added Djokovic.
The Serbian had reached the quarter-finals without dropping a set, and went into the match fresh after Mensik’s withdrawal allowed him three days off.
Initially he looked to be hitting the ball very well, but his old weakness on smashes came back to haunt him in the third game and soon Musetti was 4-2 up.
Another backhand beautyð¥
Musetti is up a break in the second.@wwos • @espn • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #AO26 pic.twitter.com/XVJ5oXLvBr— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2026
The Italian surged up the rankings last year, showing a much greater resilience to go with his extravagant shot-making and he was aiming for a first top-five victory at a grand slam.
That was very much on the cards when he began the second set by getting the better of three successive breaks of serve.
Another helped him to secure the second set after a generous act of sportsmanship from Djokovic, who had been awarded the point to lead 40-15 but admitted that he had touched a shot from Musetti that dropped wide.
The first sign of Musetti’s discomfort came when he was broken to trail 2-1 in the third set and, in scenes reminiscent of last year’s Wimbledon, when Grigor Dimitrov led by two sets to love against Jannik Sinner only to be forced out, he was unable to continue.
