Another Grand Slam, another record broken for Novak Djokovic. This time, it was the latest-ever finish at Roland-Garros, as the top seed came from behind to defeat Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the early hours of Sunday morning.
For the first three hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier, it seemed as though Djokovic’s record for his worst start to a season this decade would be the one getting extended instead.
The Serbian came back from a break down in the opening set to win it, but was thoroughly outplayed across the next two sets. First Musetti saw off a break-point to win the second set in a tiebreak, before racing away with the third set 6-2. That meant we also got our prediction in for this match.
“I was in real trouble,” Djokovic explained, referring to the period of the match where Musetti had the upper hand. “Credit to Lorenzo for making me uncomfortable on court and playing some really amazing tennis, really high level.”
From struggling to breathe, to breath-taking winners
“At one point, I didn’t know what to do,” he continued. “From both ends he was getting a lot of balls back, winners from both corners, good servers, running every ball down the court.
“It didn’t feel great playing him in that third set and the beginning of the fourth.”
Djokovic confirmed that at times he was struggling to breathe against Musetti, courtesy of the challenging conditions.
“When you’re playing a 20+ rally at 2am… Who plays at 2am? You play a few matches in your life at this time. It was so muggy and so heavy conditions, very cold.
“The balls were not going anywhere. You weren’t getting too many free points off the serve, so you had to work every single point of the night tonight. That’s why I really physically pushed myself to the limit tonight.”
Just when it seemed Musetti would gain revenge for their 2021 match–where the young Italian conceded a two-set lead to lose in five sets–Djokovic tapped into the energy of the crowd and began his comeback.
“I wanted to thank you,” Djokovic said to the fans who had remained in the stands well past 3am on Sunday morning. “Because at 2-2 in the fourth set, you supported me. You gave me energy. I became a new player at that time.”
The top seed indeed underwent a remarkable transformation. As he did three years ago, Djokovic raced to the finish line against Musetti. This time, he won 10 of the last 11 games, ending with a vicious forehand winner to book his spot in the round of 16 at Roland-Garros.
“There’s beauty in winning a match at 3:30am,” reflected Djokovic after the victory. “But I’m going to have to switch on all of my young genes and try to recover as soon as possible.”
Next up, the defending champion faces Francisco Cerundolo for a spot in the quarter-finals, after the Argentinian upset No 14 seed Tommy Paul on Sunday.
