Novak Djokovic battles back from two sets down in the French Open fourth round after being stunned by 19-year-old Lorenzo Musetti as world No 1 wins 16 out of the last 17 games before rival retires
- Novak Djokovic is into the quarter finals of the French Open but was tested
- Lorenzo Musetti won the first two sets after holding nerve in tie-breaks
- World number one responded and cruised to level it up at two sets a piece
- Djokovic was on the verge of winning when Musetti retired from the match
World number one Novak Djokovic survived a massive scare before fighting back from two sets down against teenager Lorenzo Musetti to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Monday after the Italian retired in the fifth set.
Musetti, appearing in his first Grand Slam main draw, was inspired as he took the opening two sets on tiebreaks but crumbled and appeared to run out of energy as he managed one game thereafter before retiring with the score 6-7 (7-9) 6-7 (2-7) 6-1 6-0 4-0.
Djokovic was being outplayed and was facing his earliest Roland Garros exit since 2009, but the match swung his way in rapid fashion as he won the third set 6-1 in 24 minutes.
Novak Djokovic moved into the quarter finals of the French Open after beating Lorenzo Musetti
The Italian was on the verge of a huge upset after taking the first two sets against Djokovic
The Serb was forced to work for his win but showed his trademark grit to grind out the win
The Serb won the fourth set 6-0 in imperious fashion and was then cruising through the decider before Musetti decided he could not play on.
Djokovic will face Italian ninth seed Matteo Berrettini next, and remains on course for a semi-final showdown against Rafael Nadal.
The world number one is looking for his second title at Roland Garros, having won it in 2016, and has lost in the final to Nadal on three occasions.
More to follow…