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Two sets up, no way through: Musetti joins rare major retirement list

  • Posted: Jan 28, 2026

When Lorenzo Musetti walked to the net on Tuesday night at the Australian Open, the scoreboard told a story that tennis almost never sees.

Two sets to love up against Novak Djokovic, the Italian was forced to retire in their quarter-final, joining one of the sport’s most painful and unusual footnotes: players who have led by two sets at a Grand Slam and never finished the match.

Remarkably, this is not the first time Musetti has found himself on the wrong side of this rare statistic and against the same opponent. At Roland Garros in 2021, Musetti stunned the tennis world by taking the opening two sets from Djokovic in the fourth round. Physical struggles followed, Djokovic surged back, and Musetti eventually retired in the fifth set. Five years later, on a different surface, history repeated itself.

Across the entire Open Era (since 1968), there have been only a handful of instances where a player has retired from a major match despite holding a two-set advantage. Grigor Dimitrov was the most recent example at last year’s Wimbledon, where he retired due to a pectoral injury when leading Jannik Sinner 6-3, 7-5, 2-2.

Match (Retired Player Second) Score At Retirement Major
Jannik Sinner-Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 5-7, 2-2 Wimbledon 2025 
Ethan Quinn-Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 Roland Garros 2025
Diego Schwartzman-Jack Sock 3-6, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 US Open 2022
Novak Djokovic-Lorenzo Musetti 6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 6-0, 4-0 Roland Garros 2021
Florent Serra-Steve Darcis  6-7, 3-6, 5-4  Australian Open 2012
Michael Russell-Sergi Bruguera 4-6, 5-7, 6-3 Roland Garros 2001
Grover Raz Reid-Sandy Mayer  3-6, 5-7, 7-6 US Open 1974 
Georges Goven-Mike Belkin 4-6, 5-7, 3-0 Roland Garros 1969
Andres Gimeno-Manuel Santana 4-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 1-0 Roland Garros 1969

Research contribution from Jon Jeraj

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Granollers/Zeballos surge into Australian Open SFs

  • Posted: Jan 28, 2026

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos strengthened their push for a maiden Australian Open title on Wednesday, when they moved into the semi-finals.

The third seeds — the highest-ranked team left in the draw — defeated Brazilians Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos 6-3, 6-4. Granollers and Zeballos won their first two major trophies at Roland Garros and the US Open last year and will next face sixth seeds Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski at Melbourne Park.

Harrison and Skupski, who both competed at the Nitto ATP Finals with different partners, are playing in just their second tournament together. The American-British duo defeated Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl 6-2, 6-3 to reach the last four.

In the top half of the draw, Luke Johnson and Jan Zielinski upset fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 7-6(5), 6-2. They converted three of the four break points they created against the former World No. 1s, according to Infosys Stats, en route to their first major semi-final as a team.

They will face Aussie wild cards Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans, who overcame 12th seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 6-4, 7-6(3) on Tuesday. Kubler won the 2023 Australian Open title, partnering Rinky Hijikata to defeat Hugo Nys and Zielinski. Polmans is back in the semi-finals in Melbourne for the first time since 2017.

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Djokovic, with his 1,400th tour-level match, follows in footsteps of Connors & Federer

  • Posted: Jan 28, 2026

Novak Djokovic has added another milestone to his illustrious career simply by stepping on court Wednesday for his Australian Open quarter-final against Lorenzo Musetti.

The former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Djokovic has become just the third man to play 1,400 tour-level matches. Heading into his milestone-breaking meeting with Musetti, Djokovic held a 1166-233 career record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

The 38-year-old Djokovic joins his fellow ATP No. 1 Club members Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer as the only men to hit 1,400 tour-level outings. Djokovic holds the best winning percentage (83.29%) of the three, followed by Federer (82%) and Connors (81.8%).

Player  Matches W/L Record  Win % 
Jimmy Connors  1,557  1274-283 81.8 
Roger Federer  1,526  1251-275  82 
Novak Djokovic  1,400*  1163-233  83.3 
Ivan Lendl  1,310  1068-242  81.5 
Rafael Nadal  1,308  1080-228  82.6 


Djokovic currently playing his 1,400th tour-level match at 2026 Australian Open.

Only two men aside from Connors, Federer and Djokovic have even contested more than 1,300 tour-level matches. They are Rafael Nadal and Ivan Lendl, who are also former World No. 1s.

Djokovic’s win percentage is the best of all 29 members of the ATP No. 1 Club. His closest rival in that category is Nadal, who retired in 2024 with a 1080-228 record in tour-level matches, equivalent to an 82.6% success rate.

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