Novak Djokovic bids for another grand slam semi-final at the Australian Open as he takes on fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti.
Djokovic reached all four semi-finals at the grand slam tournaments last year, at the age of 38, only to run into injury or one of Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz.
His latest pursuit of a 25th grand slam title has been aided by a walkover in the fourth round, as Jakub Mensik pulled out of the tournament due to injury.
Italian Musetti, who is through to his first Australian Open semi-final, will be a tough test, but Djokovic won their last meeting in an epic three-hour Athens final at the end of last year.
Musetti has only won one of his 10 matches against Djokovic, who is a 10-time champion at Melbourne Park.
Djokovic v Musetti start time
The men’s quarter-final has been scheduled third on Rod Laver Arena, following the two previous women’s quarter-finals between Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova, with a not before time of 3:30am GMT (UK time)
Djokovic, who prefers the night conditions, will be playing in the afternoon slot in Melbourne.
Is the Australian Open on TV?
The tournament will be shown live on TNT Sports in the UK as well as online on Discovery+.
In the US, it will be shown live on ESPN and Tennis Channel.
Australian Open order of play
Day Eleven - Wednesday 28 January
Rod Laver Arena
12:30 AM GMT
- Elena Rybakina (KAZ) [5] vs. Iga Swiatek (POL) [2]
- Jessica Pegula (USA) [6] vs. Amanda Anisimova (USA) [4]
- Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) [5] vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [4]
8:00 AM GMT
- Ben Shelton (USA) [8] vs. Jannik Sinner (ITA) [2]
Djokovic v Musetti head-to-head
Djokovic has beaten Musetti in nine of their 10 meetings, including the last six in a row. Their most recent battle came in the Athens final late last season, as Djokovic won his 101st career title in a three-hour battle.
Before then, Djokovic also defeated Musetti in the semi-finals of Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, in two of their four meetings from the 2024 season, while the 23-year-old’s only win came on clay in Monte Carlo in 2023.
What have the players said?
“There's always something that is happening with the body, but I think generally I feel as good as I have felt in a while,” Djokovic said after his third-round win over Botic van de Zandschulp, where he narrowly avoided being defaulted from the tournament after striking a ball near the head of a ball girl.
"I cannot predict the future, I don't know how things are going to unfold from this day onwards, but I'm doing everything I can."
“Playing against Novak is always challenging, especially here, which he won many, many, many times,” Musetti said.
“I think it will be a tough match, for sure. Of course, he's feeling good. He hasn’t lost a set. He had the chance to rest for a few days. I think at this age, I think he was happy about it, of course, to try to be well-prepared and well-relaxed for this match.
“But of course we know each other pretty well because we played a lot. Just won once against him. Hopefully I'll take my revenge, because last time in Athens we were really, really close. I feel like I have another chance now.”
