WIMBLEDON, England — Lorenzo Musetti reached his first Grand Slam semifinal by eliminating Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 at Wimbledon on Wednesday and can tackle Novak Djokovic subsequent.
The Twenty fifth-seeded Musetti, a 22-year-old from Italy, had by no means been previous the third spherical on the All England Membership — or the fourth spherical at any main match — till now.
His victory over the Thirteenth-seeded Fritz was the thirty seventh five-setter at Wimbledon this 12 months, probably the most ever at any Grand Slam match.
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Now Musetti will go up in opposition to Djokovic with a berth within the last on the road.
It is going to be Djokovic’s record-tying Thirteenth semifinal at Wimbledon alone, equaling Roger Federer, and forty ninth Slam semifinal total, extending a mark he already held. As Musetti pursues his first main championship, Djokovic seeks a Twenty fifth, together with what can be his eighth on the All England Membership.
Djokovic’s clean journey by means of this 12 months’s bracket was made even simpler when the person he was purported to play within the quarterfinals Wednesday, Alex de Minaur, pulled out with a hip harm hours earlier than their match was scheduled to start.
As an alternative of going up in opposition to No. 9 de Minaur on Wednesday, Djokovic will get three full days off earlier than assembly Musetti on Friday. The opposite males’s semifinal will likely be defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in opposition to Daniil Medvedev; they superior Tuesday.
YearPlayers (Age)Age Gap2024Novak Djokovic (37)-Lorenzo Musetti (22)14 years, 285 days2023Novak Djokovic (36)-Jannik Sinner (21)14 years, 86 days1987Jimmy Connors (34)-Pat Money (22)12 years, 267 days1978Tom Okker (34)-Bjorn Borg (22)12 yrs, 105 days1974Ken Rosewall (39)-Stan Smith (27)12 yrs, 42 days– ESPN Stats & Info
Enjoying at a sun-swathed No. 1 Courtroom in opposition to Fritz, an American who is likely one of the sport’s greatest servers however fell to 0-4 in main quarterfinals, Musetti managed to build up 13 break factors and convert six. The end result-determining break got here on a forehand winner by Musetti that made it 2-0 within the final set; moments later, one other break made it 4-0.
There was not a ton of selection exhibited by both participant; they have been primarily content material to commerce groundstrokes from the baseline. However Musetti did handle to accrue factors with efficient drop photographs, often following them with profitable passing makes an attempt or lobs.
Queen Camilla, the spouse of King Charles III, was within the stands and joined followers in doing the wave.
Djokovic and Musetti have performed one another six instances beforehand. Djokovic has gained 5 of these, together with a five-setter at this 12 months’s French Open that concluded after 3 a.m. It was in Djokovic’s following match in Paris that he tore the meniscus in his proper knee.
