Novak Djokovic beat Lorenzo Musetti 7-5 6-3 to gain revenge over the Italian player, who beat his previous head-to-head match over the world number 1 player in last year’s edition of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.
Musetti earned an early break in the opening game, as Djokovic netted a forehand. The Italian player consolidated the break with a service winner in the second game to open a 2-0 lead. Djokovic held serve at love in the third game. Musetti hit a backhand down the line winner in the fourth game and held serve with a drop shot winner to open up a 3-1 lead.
Djokovic faced another break point in the fifth game, but he saved it to hold serve. Musetti held serve with a forehand crosscourt winner in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. Musetti earned three game points with a backhand down the line winner in the seventh game, but he squandered them. Musetti wasted his fourth game point and Djokovic broke back to draw level to 4-4 after a backhand error from the Italian player.
Djokovic held serve after deuce with a service winner in the ninth game. Musetti held serve at 30 in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. Djokovic held serve at love in the 11thgame and earned a set point after a forehand error from Musetti. The Serbian player converted it after Musetti made a double fault to seal the first set 7-5 after 66 minutes.
Djokovic started the second set with a service winner before breaking serve with a backhand crosscourt winner to open up a 2-0 lead. Musetti broke straight back in the third game after a forehand error from Djokovic, but he missed a game point in the fourth game. Djokovic earned another break to take a 3-1 lead. The two-time Monte-Carlo winner held serve in the fifth game to open up a 4-1 lead and went up a 40-15 on serve in the seventh game. Musetti pulled a break back to close the gap to 3-4. Djokovic broke for the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and served out the win with a hold at love.
Djokovic is playing his first tournament since splitting with former coach Goran Ivanisevic.
“It was a little exchange with the crowd at 4-3 40-0 for him in the first set and ever since then I gained momentum. He lost focus a little bit. He was the better player for those first seven games and played some great tennis. He played really good shots and made me run. This is clay and obviously things can turn around, very quickly, and a break of serve is not a big advantage on this surface compared to the other surface. We saw a bit of rollercoaster in the second set, so I pleased that staying tough and aggressive in tight moments paid off”,said Djokovic.
Dhokovic set up a quarter final match against Alex De Minaur, who beat his compatriot Alexei Popyrin 6-3 6-4 to become the first Australian player to reach the quarter final in Monte-Carlo since Mark Philippousis in 1999.
