Sinner beats Shelton to set up Djokovic semi-final
Defending champion Jannik Sinner beats eighth seed Ben Shelton 6-3 6-4 6-4 to set up a semi-final with Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
Defending champion Jannik Sinner beats eighth seed Ben Shelton 6-3 6-4 6-4 to set up a semi-final with Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
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
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Jessica Pegula and Iga Swiatek echo Coco Gauff’s concerns over the use of cameras away from the court at the Australian Open, insisting more privacy is needed for all players competing.
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.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Novak Djokovic’s bid for more tennis history is still alive as he scrapes into the Australian Open semi-finals as Lorenzo Musetti retires injured at two sets up.
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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