By JOHN PYE AP Sports Writer
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — After a walkover and an in-match retirement, 10-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic will meet two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.
Djokovic dropped the first two sets of his quarterfinal 6-4, 6-3 Wednesday to fifth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti but was up a break in the third when the 23-year-old Italian retired with an injured right leg.
The 38-year-old Djokovic admitted he was “lucky this time.”
It wasn’t really the way Djokovic wanted to cap yet another record – his 103rd win at Melbourne Park, one better than Roger Federer’s previous all-time mark – but he accepted any route through.
Sinner was all business in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over eighth-seeded Ben Shelton in a night match to extend his streak to 19 at Melbourne Park.
Sinner conceded he was lucky to still be in the tournament, too, after struggling with cramps and staggering in his third-round match until the roof was closed and he went back on court reinvigorated.
The top four seeds have reached the final four in the men’s draw, with No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Alexander Zverev set to meet in the other semifinal.
Sinner has a 6-4 lead in head-to-heads with Djokovic, but he’s won the last five. That sequence includes semifinals at the 2024 Australian Open and at Roland Garros and Wimbledon last year. It was the semifinal here two years ago that propelled Sinner toward his first major title.
“It improves you as a player and a person,” Sinner said of his matches with the tennis great. “We’re still lucky to have Novak here playing incredible tennis at his age.
“As a 24-year-old, I’m lucky to have someone like him in front of my eyes and I can hopefully learn something. I feel like every day, every time he plays, I can learn something about him.”
Since capturing his 24th Grand Slam singles title in 2023, unprecedented among men and for anyone in the Open Era, Djokovic has been bidding for a 25th and to become the most decorated tennis player of all time.
Djokovic’s dramatic win
Djokovic was two sets down, slowed by a serious blister on his foot and already thinking about his flight home when fifth-seeded Musetti called it quits.
Musetti needed a medical timeout for treatment on his upper right leg after being broken in the third game of the third set. He played on for almost two games but couldn’t continue.
After serving a double-fault in the fifth game to give Djokovic a breakpoint chance, Musetti wiped a hand across his face, walked toward the net and removed his headband before exchanging a handshake and quick hug.
“I honestly have no words to describe how I’m feeling right now and how tough it is for me with this injury in this moment,” Musetti said. “I continued to play because I was playing really, really, really well, but I was feeling that the pain was increasing and the problem was not going away.”
Djokovic said he felt for Musetti.
“It happened to me a few times. But being in the quarters of a Grand Slam, two sets to love up and being in full control — I mean, so unfortunate,” Djokovic said. “He should have been a winner today.”
Musetti was also forced to retire from the French Open semifinals last year —- with a similar injury — against eventual champion Alcaraz.
“I feel really sorry for him,” Djokovic said. “He was a far better player — I was on my way home tonight.”
Late in the second set, Djokovic conceded a point after telling the chair umpire his racket frame had touched — barely and inaudibly — the ball before it went out. He soon lost that game and the set.
The situation appeared to get more dire for Djokovic when he needed a medical timeout after the second set for the blister on the ball of his right foot.
“I just wasn’t feeling the ball today due to his quality and his variety in the game,” he said. “I’m extremely lucky.”
Flip side
No tennis player takes any victory for granted. Just a few days ago, Djokovic received a walkover into the quarterfinals.
Djokovic has seen it from the other side. None more dramatic than here last year when he had to quit the Australian Open semifinals with a torn leg muscle. He was booed off the court when he retired after dropping the first set against Zverev.
Asked in a news conference to compare eras from when he started chasing the Federer-Rafael Nadal rivalry and to now chasing Alcaraz and Sinner, Djokovic responded that it was disrespectful not to mention the “15-year period in between where I was dominating the Grand Slams.”
“I don’t feel like I’m chasing, to be honest,” he said. “I’m creating my own history.”
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