Lorenzo Musetti was unable to continue his Australian Open quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic, despite leading by two sets to love.
Musetti impressed in the first two sets of the match, while Djokovic was involved in a dispute with the umpire and took a medical timeout for blisters.
The Italian appeared to be on course for a first Australian Open semifinal, which was until Musetti retired against Djokovic after the fourth game of the third set following a medical timeout on his right leg.
After being unable to continue the match, Musetti has provided a first update on what the actual injury is.
Lorenzo Musetti provides injury update after retiring against Novak Djokovic
Musetti spoke in his post-match press conference following his exit from the Australian Open, where unsurprisingly the questions were all concerning his injury.
This is where Musetti revealed that he had actually felt an issue from the start of the second set, which just worsened during the start of the third set.
“Well, yeah, I felt it at the beginning of the second set,” said Musetti. “I felt there was something strange in my right leg. You know, I continued to play, because I was playing really, really, really well, but I was feeling that the pain was increasing, and the problem was not getting away.
“At the end, when I took the medical time-out, to stay three minutes, I sitted, and when I started to play again, I felt even more and was getting higher and higher the level of the pain.”
When asked more specifically about the injury, Musetti revealed that he knew that he could not have done anything to carry on playing, and suggested that it could be related to the adductor.
“Well, to tape it, it was a little bit too high, so it was impossible to tape it,” responded the world number five. “And, no, I mean, I feel personally that I know my body, and I feel personally that I’m kind of secure that this is a tear, unfortunately.”
He added, “I’m not doctor, but it’s kind of on the — I don’t know if it’s the adductor or… I don’t know. It’s over there. But, of course, I will do all the exams when I will come back home and, of course I will update you guys.”
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Musetti then went into detail about how the injury progressed throughout the match, including explaining why he was still able to win the second set.
“Honestly, I played almost all the second set like that, but I could play, because especially with the serve, it was helping me a lot, and I was trying a little bit to push from the baseline, which I was feeling the ball pretty well today,” said Musetti.
“So I was managing, you know, to try to hold there and to stay and try to, you know, don’t really look at the pain. But then afterwards, as I said, the first question, when I sit down for three minutes and I kind of, not relax, but kind of stayed longer in the wait position, the pain immediately started to increase.
“Then afterwards, I was feeling also — especially when I was going with the forehand on the open stance, I was feeling that I could not, you know, come back to the middle and then started, you know, as you saw, I could not really play.
“So, you know, unfortunately, it was no chance and no way to tape it, to do something, you know, to continue to play.”
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This is not the first time that injury has disrupted the Italian at a big stage of a major tournament, including Musetti retiring in the French Open semifinals last year.
Although the injury is in the same leg that forced him to retire in Paris last year, Musetti has dismissed it being the same issue.
“No, no, it was the same leg, because it was the right one, but I don’t feel it’s at the same point,” explained Musetti. “But it’s tough to say now, because of course, it’s going to be — I’m going to have to check for sure better and try to see and to clear out what it is. Also to try to think about a process of rehabilitation and, you know, recovery.”
While he has suggested that it is not the same injury, Musetti has admitted that it is the toughest one to take of his entire career.
“Well, definitely yes,” responded Musetti. “Honestly, I never imagined, you know, the feeling of leading two sets to zero against Novak and playing like that and have the lead of the match like that and be forced to retire is something that, of course, I will never imagine. Of course, it’s really painful.”
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Musetti will now have scans to provide an official diagnosis on his injury, with there now being doubts over whether he will compete during the South American clay court swing as planned.
While Djokovic, who has not won a set since the third round after his fourth round opponent Jakub Mensik also withdrew from the Australian Open, will progress to his 13th semifinal in Melbourne.
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