Novak Djokovic takes revenge on Musetti to reach CF in Monte Carlo | ATP Tour

Montecarlo

Djokovic takes revenge on Musetti to reach CF in Monte Carlo

He will face De Minaur in the quarterfinals

April 11, 2024

Novak Djokovic has achieved ten qualifications for the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo.
By ATPTour.com/es Staff

Novak Djokovic did not have his best day this Thursday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, however, he found enough tools to take revenge against Lorenzo Musetti in the first ATP Masters 1000 on clay of the season.

Twelve months after the Serbian bowed out in the third round against the Italian on the same stage, this time he changed the script of history by winning 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 58 minutes.

“There was a small exchange with the public at 4-3, 40/0 for him and from then on the dynamic changed,” Djokovic said about the first set, in which he was able to overcome a 2-4 deficit. “He lost his concentration a little bit. He was the best player in the first seven games, he played great tennis. He played very good shots and made me run.”

“But this is clay and obviously things can change sides very quickly. A break is not a big advantage on this surface compared to others,” the Serbian continued his analysis. “We saw a bit of a rollercoaster in the second set, so I’m glad that staying strong and aggressive in the tight moments paid off.”

Djokovic, at 26 years old, is playing in his first tournament since he stopped working with Goran Ivanisevic. The main favorite, who has Nenad Zimonjic on his bench this week, knew how to find the formula to stop a combative Musetti who managed to generate six break points. The same ones he had in his favor. The difference is that the Balkan scored five, while the Italian scored three times.

The main favorite in Monte Carlo reached the quarterfinals for the tenth time in his career, a figure that only Rafael Nadal has reached before, who has 16 appearances in this round.

Now Djokovic will face Alex de Minaur, who has been advancing stages in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters until becoming the first quarterfinalist of this edition of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament this Thursday morning.

The 25-year-old Australian defeated his compatriot Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-4, in one hour and 15 minutes, surpassing the barrier of the round of 16, after falling in this round in both his two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments previous events in Indian Wells and Miami.

It is the first time that De Minaur has gone this far in Monte Carlo, since he had never gone past the second round in El Principado. But this time he has left Stan Wawrinka, Tallon Griekspoor and Popyrin behind to reach the quarterfinals for the third time in this category.

From Miñaur in CF of an ATP Masters 1000

De Minaur is the first Australian quarter-finalist in 25 years, with no player from his country making it this far in Monte Carlo since Mark Philippoussis in 1999 (l. to Marcelo Ríos).

In the quarterfinals, the No. 11 in the PIF ATP Rankings will face the winner of the match that brings together the top seed Novak Djokovic with the Italian Lorenzo Musetti.