By Canadian Press

Lorenzo Musetti reaches his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon and will face Novak Djokovic

Jul 10, 2024 | 11:52 AM

LONDON (AP) — 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 will take on Novak Djokovic next.

The 25th-seeded Musetti, a 22-year-old from Italy, had never been past the third round at the All England Club — or the fourth round at any major tournament — until now.

His victory over the 13th-seeded Fritz was the 37th five-setter at the All England Club this year, the most at any Grand Slam tournament.

Now Musetti will go up against Djokovic with a berth in the final on the line.

It will be Djokovic’s record-tying 13th semifinal at Wimbledon alone — equaling Roger Federer — and 49th Slam semifinal overall, extending a mark he already held. As Musetti pursues his first major championship, Djokovic seeks a 25th, including what would be an eighth at the All England Club.

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Djokovic’s smooth trip through this year’s bracket was made even easier when the man he was supposed to play in the quarterfinals Wednesday, Alex de Minaur, pulled out with a hip injury hours before their match was scheduled to begin.

Playing at a sun-swathed No. 1 Court against Fritz, an American who is one of the sport’s biggest servers but fell to 0-4 in major quarterfinals, Musetti managed to accumulate 13 break points and convert six. The outcome-determining break came on a forehand winner by Musetti that made it 2-0 in the last set; moments later, another break made it 4-0.

There was not a ton of variety exhibited by either player; they were mainly content to trade groundstrokes from the baseline. But Musetti did manage to accrue points with effective drop shots, occasionally following them with successful passing attempts or lobs.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press