Novak Djokovic entered the 2024 Roland Garros with a lot of hope, but Lorenzo Musetti didn't care for any of that, and yet the Italian came up short.
While Djokovic passed the first two rounds with relative ease, many were curious to see how he'd do against Musetti. The Italian has given him some problems in the past, and he's a very good clay player.
He's also played fairly well this year, so many assumed this match would be a proper test for him. It proved quite the test, even though the 37-year-old handled the opening set well.
He outplayed the Italian despite falling behind early, winning the first set 7-5. It was a fairly well-contested set, but when the pressure rose late in the opening set, Djokovic pushed and got it done.
The second set was quite interesting. The world no. 1 appeared to struggle to breathe a bit but, even so, broke his opponent's serve. Musetti kept pushing and eventually broke back, so the set rolled on.
It ended up in a tie-break, which Musetti opened with a 3-0 lead, but then Djokovic had a set point at 6-5. Still, the Italian prevailed, winning the second-set tie-break 8-6.
It has to be said that Musetti played a brilliant set. He found a really good level in the second half of the second set and kept it high for a very long time. The Italian kept playing superb tennis in the third set, taking it 6-2, as Djokovic didn't find any answers.
That set was bad for Djokovic, as he didn't serve well or hit the ball particularly well. Musetti, on the other hand, cleaned the line so often that Djokovic grew increasingly frustrated with it.
The conditions made it pretty tough to finish off points; he struggled to breathe at times, the opponent was playing superb tennis, and he lacked matches. He admitted that he was embarrassed to say that winning the trophy was his goal, and there is good reason for that.
He knew he didn't have the best preparation, and it was going to be tough with this match proving it. The pendulum swung to Djokovic in the fourth set as he played much better, but actually, taking an early break was what mattered.
It energized him and deflated Musetti, allowing Djokovic to win the fourth set 6-3. It was time for a decider at 2:31 a.m. local time. The decider was really a no-contest because Musetti was playing far from his level early in this match.
Djokovic was a wall that crushed Musetti under its weight, though the Italian gave it his all. By the time the match concluded, it had lasted 4 hours and 30 minutes and finished at 3:07 local time, which is the latest a match has ever finished at Roland Garros, with Djokovic winning it 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Novak Djokovic vs Lorenzo Musetti Match Stats:
| Novak Djokovic | 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 | Lorenzo Musetti |
| 5 | Aces | 1 |
| 2 | Double Faults | 2 |
| 65% | First Serve % | 60% |
| 69% (62/90) | Points Won After First Serve % | 59% (51/87) |
| 49% (24/49) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 52% (30/58) |
| 57% (8/14) | Break Point Conversion | 100% (5/5) |
| 44 | Winners | 53 |
| 42 | Unforced errors | 34 |
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