Lorenzo Musetti beats Taylor Fritz in three sets (6-2, 7-5, 6-4) and flies to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, in which
tomorrow he will challenge the Serbian Novak Djokovic. The outcome of the match was never really in question, dominated by the Italian, currently number 5 in the world rankings (with the hope of ending the adventure in Melbourne as number 3).
«I’m very proud, I know Taylor very well; he beat me the last time we faced each other, in Turin” (at the Masters in November), said the 23-year-old Italian: “Today I arrived with a different mentality and my serve worked really well. I don’t think I’ve ever scored so many aces” (13).
For his fourth Slam quarterfinal, after reaching the same milestone at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open, on Wednesday he will face Novak Djokovic (fourth seed), ten-time champion in Melbourne. Djokovic benefited from the withdrawal of Czech Jakub Mensik the day before their last-16 meeting.
The Serbian ended Musetti’s run in the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2024, and the Italian has only one victory in ten matches so far (on the clay of Roland Garros in 2023). «We played a lot, we compare ourselves and every time it’s a lesson for me: I always come out with something that can be useful to me. It’s always an honor to face him”, concluded Musetti.