Novak Djokovic's unexpected rival in the Wimbledon semifinals. The Italian Lorenzo Muzeti is the 25th player on the ATP list, he was not in any special form this season, nor is grass his favorite surface, but the unofficial world tennis championship often writes stories like this.
Yesterday, in the semi-finals, to put it mildly, Muzetti surprised the American Taylor Fritz, 12th in the world, and after a match full of twists and turns - in five sets 3:6, 7:6, 6:2, 3:6, 6:1, he lost semi-final with the seven-time Wimbledon champion.
There, on Friday, a rested Djokovic is waiting for him, who had an unplanned day off at Wimbledon, because the Australian Alex de Minaur gave him up due to an injury three hours before the start of the duel.
Musetti is an underdog against the world No. 2, never going that far in a Grand Slam, let alone Wimbledon, but has given Djokovic problems in the past. Even recently, at Roland Garros, in a match that ended at 3 in the morning, Djokovic managed to turn around in five sets.
It was similar in 2021, also at Roland Garros, Muzetti led 2:0, and then surrendered when the Serbian tennis player was one step away from a turnaround and victory.
What can an Italian do on Friday?
- Novak probably knows the surface and the stadium better than me. All kidding aside, he's a legend everywhere, especially here at Wimbledon. He did something that is unimaginable to everyone. We know each other very well, we played several times and it was always a big fight, I expect it to be like that now. One of the biggest challenges on the Tour, but I'm an ambitious guy, I'll try to give one hundred percent and let's see what happens - said Muzeti.
Carlos Alkaras and Danil Medvedev will be rivals in the second semi-final, which will also be played on Friday. The grand final is scheduled for Sunday.
Djokovic rested yesterday - a three-day break, in the middle of a Grand Slam, might be good for his newly operated knee, but the Serbian tennis player himself said a few days ago that he needs matches to get into a rhythm. The ending follows.
In the women's competition, the semifinals are today, and the pairs are Jelena Ribakina - Barbora Krejčikova and Dona Vekić - Žasmin Paolini.
Bonus video:
