Djokovic comes back from the dead to defeat Musetti in latest-ever Roland-Garros finish
Novak Djokovic defeated Lorenzo Musetti in a five-set match finishing after 3am local time
Gepa/Panoramic
History has been made at Roland-Garros, with Novak Djokovic defeating Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the latest-ever finish at the tournament early on Sunday morning in Paris.
It was another classic case of cometh the hour, cometh the man. Djokovic looked down-and-out trailing two sets to one, yet with the clock reading well past midnight, and sharing the court with an opponent 15 years his junior, the 24-time Grand Slam champion dug deep.
So deep, that he won 10 of the last 11 games in the match, bagelling Musetti in the fifth to finish the four-hour, 28-minute match at 3:07am local time.
Déjà vu for Musetti
Musetti must have felt as though he’d just stepped through a portal in time.
Three years ago, on this same court, the Italian was also a set away from knocking Djokovic out of Roland-Garros, before he lost 16 of the last 17 games to crash out in five.
“I wanted to thank you,” Djokovic declared in French to the good number of fans who had stuck around to witness the conclusion of the match. “Because at 2-2 in the fourth set, you supported me. You gave me energy. I became a new player in that time.”
“What can I say, congratulations and huge respect to Musetti,” the Serbian continued. “One of us had to lose tonight, or this morning, or whatever it is. It was a great battle, a shame for him to lose.
“I really wanted to win this match, and it was very close.”
Musetti plays best match of his career
At 22 years old, Musetti could well look back and identify this contest as the best match of his career.
The Italian played lights-out tennis for the better part of three hours, with Djokovic himself even admitting afterwards that he had no answers for the No 30 seed part way through the match.
Set one began the way the match meant to carry on, with ebbs and flows over the course of the 12 games it took to complete. Musetti broke early, capitalising on his first break point to go up 2-1. He was unable to consolidate the break, however, with Djokovic breaking straight back for 2-2.
The pair then traded holds, with no more break opportunities until the final game. Serving to stay in the set at 6-5, Musetti was unable to handle the pressure. Djokovic pounced, winning the set 7-5 and taking the early lead in the match.
Not to be discouraged, Musetti raised his level in the second. He still had to fight his way back from 4-1 down at one stage, but was able to force a tie-break. This time, it was Djokovic who failed to capitalise, holding a set point at 6-5 in the breaker.
Musetti struck a winner to save it, then two points later produced another to win the set and level the match at 1-1.
Djokovic fades, then comes back from the dead
Musetti used the momentum of saving a set point to race through the third too, gaining a 2-1 lead in the match.
Djokovic appeared to be struggling physically: red in the face, lacklustre, attempting to shorten points with premature approaches to the net. The world No 1 was broken twice, with Musetti winning the set 6-2 and seeming in command.
“I was in a very tricky position,” Djokovic revealed afterwards. “He was the better player on court at the time. It was a point when I had no solutions, it was a conundrum, a problem I had to solve.
“I couldn’t figure out what to do against him.”
After being taken to deuce in his opening service game of the fourth, Djokovic managed to hang on. Three games later, he had some luck on Musetti’s serve, conjuring up a hard-fought break to go up 3-2.
From this point on, something shifted in the Serbian.
He described to the Parisian crowd afterwards that he “became a new player at that time.” It showed on court and the scoreboard, with Djokovic winning 10 of the next 11 games–including a fifth set bagel–to win the match.
The defending champion will now face Francisco Cerundolo in the round of 16 on Monday.
