Lorenzo Musetti's journey to the Australian Open quarterfinals amid personal challenges

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Lorenzo Musetti has had to mature quickly to get into an Australian Open quarterfinal for the first time, and to be facing Novak Djokovic.

The 23-year-old Italian is without two members of his support team in Melbourne after both had to return home to deal with personal issues.

Musetti also had to leave his partner, Veronica, and two little boys at home within weeks of the birth of his second son in November.

Having to deal with so much going on off the court has Musetti finely tuned to focus when he goes to work. On Monday, that was a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win over No. 9 Taylor Fritz, the 2024 U.S. Open runner-up.

“I feel more mature on the court. I’m playing better for that, and for them,” he said of the absences of his team.

“I didn’t get much sleep in the offseason. But we found a way to work and to practice really well on and off the court," Musetti added, speaking of his newborn son. "Now it’s more than 20 days that I’m alone and it’s not easy, but I feel their presence also here.”

He said his 13 aces and 86% first serve points won in the fourth round inspired one of the best serving performances of his career.

His win over an ailing Fritz completed a set of Grand Slam quarterfinals for Musetti, who is just the third player born since 2000 to achieve a set of all four following fellow Italian Jannik Sinner and top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.

His next mission is against a well-rested and rejuvenated Djokovic, who has won a record 10 Australian Open titles and reached the semifinals at Melbourne in each of the last two years.

The 24-time major winner had been scheduled to be the feature night match at Rod Laver Arena on Monday but had a walkover into the quarterfinals after his opponent Jakub Mensik withdrew from their scheduled fourth-round match with an abdominal injury.

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