“Lorenzo withdrew in the third game due to thigh pain and missed Novak further”, — write: sport.ua
On February 28, Novak took the court against Lorenzo Musetti (Italy, ATP 5) in the quarterfinals of the major and lost the first two sets to him. In the third game, Djokovic led 3:1 and the Italian refused to continue the game due to pain in his thigh.
Australian Open 2026. 1/4 finals
Lorenzo Musetti (Italy) [5] – Novak Djokovic (Serbia) [4] – 6:4, 6:3, 1:3, RET., Musetti
Lorenzo took a medical timeout after the third game of the third set. He continued the game and managed to take two points in the fourth game, and then one in the fifth – with a score of 1:3 (15:40) on his serve, Musetti retired.
Musetti made his third Grand Slam quarterfinal (first on hard) and fought for his third semifinal. Lorenzo is the first player in the Open Era to retire from a match at the quarter-final stage of a Grand Slam or later while leading 2-0 in sets.
Djokovic will play either Yannick Sinner or Ben Shelton in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
After the round of 16, where there was a victory over Botik van de Zandshulp, Novak did not win a single set, but will still play in the quarterfinals. The Czech Jakub Menšík withdrew from the fourth round match against the Serb.
Djokovic reached his 54th Grand Slam semifinal and 13th in Melbourne. It was Novak’s 1,400th career Tour-level match, his 1,167th win, 401st major win and 103rd Aus Open.
Djokovic (38 years and 241 days) became the second-oldest Australian Open men’s singles semi-finalist in the Open era, behind only Ken Rosewall (1976 and 1977 – 42 years and 60 days), surpassing Roger Federer’s record (252).
For the first time in his career, Novak reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open four years in a row (2023–2026).