Djokovic edges Musetti in marathon late-night thriller

Serbian maintains dreams of holding the top spot in the world after Roland Garros

With an incredible comeback, Novak Djokovic has caused young Italian Lorenzo Musetti even more pain at Roland Garros and maintained his hopes of finishing as the world’s top seed at the end of the French Open.

At around 1:45 a.m., the 37-year-old Djokovic found himself down two sets to one against a player who was 15 years younger and appeared to have fresher legs after wasting a set point for a two-set lead.

But in four hours and twenty-nine minutes, the Serbian, who in 2021 came back from two sets down to deny Musetti a shocking upset in the Roland Garros fourth round, went into lockdown mode from the baseline and won 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, and 6-0.

The tournament’s previous record-breaking end time of 1:25 a.m. was shattered when the third-round match concluded at 3:08 a.m.

With his 369th Grand Slam victory, Djokovic has now tied Roger Federer for the most major tournament victories.

In their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, Djokovic is now 5-1 vs Musetti. Musetti upset the Serbian in 2023 at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on clay.

Next up for Djokovic is 23-seeded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, who has made it to the fourth round for the second year in a row.

To stand as the top seed in the PIF ATP Rankings at the end of the tournament, the three-time and defending Roland Garros winner needs to make it to the final.

If Jannik Sinner, the second seed, makes it to the final, he will undoubtedly become the 29th player in history (since 1973) to climb to the top of the rankings.