Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic submits spirited Musetti, sets up final vs Alcaraz

It was truly ill luck for Lorenzo Musetti on Friday, 12 july at the Wimbledon men’s singles semi finals.

For the level of tennis that Musetti played against Novak Djokovic, he really should not have been wiped out in straight sets. A 37-year-old with a recent knee surgery should not be able to do the things that Novak Djokovic was able to on centre court today.

If the first semi-final between Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev was a show of two players failing to find form and still scrapping their way through to a four set battle; the second one was quite the opposite. In Musetti vs Djokovic, the two players really found their strides and showcased some incredible shots, in a battle that the crowd would have liked to last for more than 3 sets.

In some moments, Musetti looked invincible, making Djokovic run from edge to edge, front to back for every point. In others, Musetti looked 99 per cent of that invincible mark but still lost his points due to some inexplicable sorcery, that only Djokovic was capable of conjuring.

Djokovic beat Musetti 6-4, 7-6(7), 6- to after a kind of battle where you would think that Musetti really did not deserve to go out like this. However, it is what it is, as Djokovic set up the men’s singles final against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz who beat Daniil Medvedev in a four-set battle in the semi-finals of the tournament.

On the day, Djokovic was superb with his defence, holding on to every single point and making life difficult for the Italian, who is ranked 25th in the world. After stretching Djokovic from left to right, Musetti realised that he was not going to win points like this, so he brought in his slicing game, which forced Djokovic to come forward. It took a while for Musetti to realise that by bringing Djokovic forward he had done the undoing for himself as the Serbian just did not lose many points at the net, at all.

From there on, Djokovic went on the merciless run, hitting backhand winners from almost impossible angles that were really gut wrenching to watch for the fans of the underdogs. There were moments where Musetti found Djokovic vulnerable by sticking to his plan, but the wily Djokovic, winner of 24 Grand Slam titles, wriggled his way out of Musetti’s brilliance.

After losing the first set 6-4, Musettli really lit up in the second one, forcing the game to tie-break, but Djokovic upped his level by winning (7-2) in the most dominating manner. After the loss of the second game, Musetti looked slightly deflated but refused to give up.

Truly, the Italian showed immense character to keep on fighting against someone, who was just not ready to lose this match. Djokovic showed brilliant tennis IQ in anticipating Musetti’s shots, especially his slices, that the Italian had used to great effect.

When Djokovic started reading the net shots, Musetti looked clueless, and often spoke to himself, in agony, as to what he could do more?

In the penultimate game of the match, down by 3-5, Musetti made a desperate chance to save the match. He once agian brought out his stunning forehands, whipped with top spin, but even then Djokovic raced away to 40-0 in the lead. Musetti brought the game back to level the score 40-40, saving 3 straight match points, eventually winning the game, but his subdued celebration implied that he knew very well, what fate was awaiting him once Djokovic served in the next game.

Musetti played the next few points with a wry smile, soaking in the centre court atmosphere, where his parents cheered for him at the top of their voices. But the end was inevitable, as Djokovic finished the match forcing errors from Musetti, who still had some gas left in his tank.

With the win, Djokovic reached his 37th Grand Slam Final, his 10th at Wimbledon. He will face Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday, 14 July.