Novak Djokovic made it through to the Australian Open semi-finals thanks to a huge piece of good fortune against Lorenzo Musetti.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was two sets down when an injury to Musetti forced him out of the match.
Djokovic will now play Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, despite not winning a set since his third round victory against Botic van de Zandschulp.
The Serbian’s former coach, Boris Becker, has opened up on why Djokovic struggled against Musetti in the quarter-finals.
Boris Becker says ‘little match practice’ is why Novak Djokovic struggled against Lorenzo Musetti
Appearing on Eurosport, Becker claimed Djokovic’s lack of matches at this year’s Australian Open was the reason for his strange performance in the quarter-final.
Djokovic was set to play Jakub Mensik in the last 16, but he withdrew due to injury a day before the match.
Becker said: “Djokovic had a four-day break, which is perhaps too much in the middle of a tournament. He has had little match practice since last year, has played few tournaments and none this season.
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“Musetti, on the other hand, was in Hong Kong and was in top form. That is probably the reason why Novak did not play well today.
“It’s a fair gesture for him (Djokovic) to say that [Musetti was the better player]. He’s always perceived as being dogged. But Novak is a true sportsman and saw that he was lucky – and he made that very clear.
“Novak still has consistency. The fact that he’s back in the semi-finals speaks for itself. He’s a sportsman, he doesn’t want to reach the semi-finals by [his opponent] retiring – and he didn’t have to play in the previous round either. I know him quite well, it’s embarrassing for him because that’s not how he wants to win.”
Djokovic will be hoping he is match ready as he prepares for a difficult test against the world number two in the semi-final.
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Djokovic has been the benefactor of two retirements at the Australian Open and he thinks he knows the reason.
The Serbian believes the off-season might be one of the reasons, as players try and return to full fitness in Melbourne.
“The offseason is the only time of the year when you can really push yourself physically, but also, you know, mentally, emotionally on the court in terms of tweaking certain things about your game and improving and trying to put more effort than normally you would during the season,” he said in his press conference.
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So that also requires a lot of energy and effort, and that puts an additional strain on the player,” the Serbian added.
“So if you see things from that perspective, it’s also kind of understandable and also, you know, the fact that you haven’t played, for most of the players, on a competitive tournament, official tournament, for maybe a month and a half or two months, and coming into new season, obviously body is behaving differently when you are playing official match than playing practice sets. That can create physical issues.”
Djokovic was set to play the Adelaide International ahead of the Australian Open, but pulled out at the last minute.
His matches at the Melbourne Grand Slam are the first he’s competed in since winning the Hellenic Championship in November.
