The prestigious Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club continues this week as Novak Djokovic faces Lorenzo Musetti. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 ATP Tour – Grand Slam Tennis
Wimbledon Championships
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Selected Semi-finals – 12 July
Novak Djokovic 2/13 | Lorenzo Musetti 42/10
You are not going to be winning any prizes for guessing who the fans will be rooting for this week. Seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic has become the pantomime villain of these championships, publicly blasting fans for apparent ‘disrespect’ (more on this later).
Lorenzo Musetti has been a breath of fresh air, playing with the type of strategic artistry that has become a rarity in this age of first-strike tennis.
He may not be the Italian we thought would reach the semifinals, but he has most certainly deserved it. This is real ‘David and Goliath’ stuff, and we can only hope that Musetti can make a real match of it.
Novak Djokovic
I think that Djokovic’s anger with the crowds is all a bit of a ruse. Djokovic enjoys creating these little external adversities to help motivate his own individual performance.
It is a tactic that has worked beautifully throughout his glittering career. But let’s just focus on the tennis for a few seconds.
It’s easy to forget that Djokovic underwent knee surgery less than a month before the start of the tournament (it’s a minor miracle that he even took part in these championships).
And he looked understandably rusty in the opening rounds, needing four sets to take down Fearnley and Popyrin. But he looked back to his sublime best against a hapless Holger Rune, toying with the Dane while things soured with the crowd.
And he should be in prime physical condition going into this semifinal. Alex de Minaur had to withdraw from their quarterfinal cash due to a hip injury sustained in the latter stages of his win against Fils.
Musetti was pushed to the limit against Fritz and Djokovic will have enjoyed every moment of it. What more is there to say about Djokovic?
Djokovic will be playing in his record-tying 13th Wimbledon semi-final (extending his own overall Grand Slam semifinal record to 49). He has seen it all and won’t be surprised at anything that Musetti – or the crowd for that matter – bring to the table.
Yet to win a title this calendar year, Djokovic seems to be more motivated than ever to show that his time at the top hasn’t come to an end.
Lorenzo Musetti
I just want to take a moment to pat myself on the back for one of my better pulls in recent memory.
I backed Musetti as one of my longshot options for the title and the Italian has more than delivered on his potential, defying all expectations to reach a maiden Grand Slam semi-final.
To put that into context; he had never gone beyond the 4th round of a slam prior to this fortnight. The Italian had enjoyed a fairly humdrum campaign but he suddenly burst into life on the grass, reaching the semifinals in Stuttgart before a runner-up finish at Queens.
But he hasn’t had things all his own way this fortnight: that’s for sure. He needed four sets in three of his five matches and five sets in the other two!
He doesn’t have the power-based game of Jannik Sinner, or the megawatt serve of Matteo Berrettini. He has a decent serve, a solid forehand and a really nice backhand wing. But perhaps Musetti’s greatest weapon is good old-fashioned grass-court nous.
Musetti has employed brilliant variety this fortnight and has looked utterly incredible in the forecourt. That proved to be one of the biggest factors in his five-set quarterfinal win against Taylor Fritz.
The Italian won 22 of 31 net approaches, volleying brilliantly and taking the occasionally cumbersome Fritz outside of his comfort zone. That knifed backhand slice is a thing of true beauty that harkens back to the days of McEnroe. But what chance does this year’s marathon man have against the all-conquering Serb?
The Verdict: Djokovic to win in four sets 23/10
Djokovic comfortably leads the head-to-head 5-1. Having said that, both of their Grand Slam encounters have ended in five-set Djokovic victories (the most recent of which came at this year’s French Open).
Djokovic is the greatest counterpuncher in the history of the game and I think that Musetti’s variety makes him a slightly trickier proposition than more one-dimensional sluggers.
Musetti is constantly changing pace and trajectory and I really think it could cause Djokovic some issues. However, Djokovic is probably the most decisive big-game player in history and I’m sure that he will decode the Italian to win in four (which should offer some value).
