Novak Djokovic gets walkover in Australian Open quarterfinal after losing 2 sets, breaks Federer's record
Novak Djokovic made it to the semifinal of the ongoing Australian Open today as his opponent, Lorenzo Musetti of Italy walked off the game due to injury despite winning two sets. Djokovic had gone down 4-6, 3-6 in the first two sets and was leading 3-1 in the third, when Musetti pulled out.
Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic today survived a major scare against Italy's Lorenzo Musetti, who pulled out of the Australian Open quarterfinal due to a groin injury. Musetti had won the first two sets in the clash and seemed to be well on his way to famously beating the fourth-seeded Djokovic. However, injury ended his journey in the competition as Djokovic got a walkover. With this win, the Serbian also broke Roger Federer's all-time record of registering the most wins in the history of Australian Open.
Djokovic has now won 103 matches in the Grand Slam competition in Melbourne while Federer had won 102 matches during his illustrious career. As for the match, the Italian fifth seed Musetti appeared to have tweaked his groin in the opening service game of the third set and was unable to run due to the same reason. Eventually, after going down 1-3 in the set, he decided to walk off, handing an unlikely victory to Djokovic.
Djokovic feels sorry for Musetti
Novak Djokovic felt sorry for Musetti and admitted that he was losing the match against the Italian on the evening. He made it clear that Musetti should have won this match. "I don't know what to say except I feel really sorry for him and he was a far better player. I was on my way home tonight. Being in quarters of a Grand Slam, two sets to love up and being in full control, I mean, so unfortunate. He should have been a winner today, there's no doubt," Djokovic said after the match ended abruptly with Musetti walking away.
For the unversed, Novak Djokovic got a walkover in the fourth round as well, as Jakub Mensik pulled out due to injury. Interestingly, Djokovic will now face the winner of the match between Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton in the semifinals.
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