Novak Djokovic was firmly in control against Lorenzo Musetti at the Monte Carlo Masters when he was seized by a sudden sense of déjà vu.
Given that he was leading by a set and a break, just two games away from securing a place in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2019, there was little obvious cause for alarm. But the Serbian world No 1 knows from bitter experience how precarious such a position can be.
A year ago, at the same stage of the tournament, Djokovic led Musetti by a near-identical scoreline only to suffer a shock three-set defeat that sent his clay-court campaign into a tailspin. Losses to Dusan Lajovic and Holger Rune followed, and although Djokovic recovered in time to win a third French Open title, the experience was not one he would wish to repeat in a year when he is prioritising a first gold medal at the summer Olympics, which will take place at Roland Garros in late July.
It is no secret that Djokovic traditionally takes time to get up to speed on the red dirt, and this year that challenge has been compounded by a rare lean spell by his stratospheric standards. Without a title in 2024 after losing to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals and suffering a shock defeat to Italy’s Luca Nardi in Indian Wells, the Serb arrived in Monte Carlo with low expectations. But after producing arguably his best performance of the season to sweep aside Roman Safiullin in his opening match, surely the noise surrounding the Musetti rematch was just that? Surely Djokovic wouldn’t be foiled by the same opponent, in the same round, for a second year in succession?
One might imagine a 24-time grand slam winner is above such thoughts, but tennis is a game played in the mind, and the mind plays tricks even on the best. When Musetti swept a backhand pass beyond Djokovic to get the second set back on serve, just as he did 12 months ago, the parallelism became impossible to ignore. Feeling the pace in the afternoon heat, the Serb earned a time violation before that point and sat physically trembling at the changeover. It had the feel of a potentially pivotal moment.
“I lost to him last year here [in] similar circumstances, I was a set and 4-2 up and then I lost the break,” Djokovic said following his 7-5, 6-3 win. “I must say that it was in the back of my mind when I was serving at 4-2, 40-15 and I lost a break of serve.
“I was like, ‘Oh no, hopefully this is not a similar scenario to last year.’”
A combination of bold returning and outstanding defensive play ensured it was not. Breathing heavily but thinking clearly, Djokovic broke in the very next game, lashing a forehand winner off a second serve, and then served out the win to love. A potential turning point had become something altogether different: a reaffirmation of Djokovic’s mental strength, the latest expression of his iron will. As for the actual turning point, that had long since come and gone.
By Djokovic’s own admission, Musetti was the better player for the first seven games. The 22-year-old exuded self-belief, unleashing huge topspin forehands, demonstrating the power and range of his sumptuous one-handed backhand, and at one stage even pulling off an outrageous jumping drop shot from a position so wide and so deep that few players would have dared even to imagine the stroke.
Having conceded an early break, it was as much as Djokovic could do to avoid falling even further behind. But in the eighth game, with Musetti serving at 40-0, the match turned on a dime. The Italian drilled a forehand wide of the line, no call came, and both players hesitated momentarily, Djokovic plopping back a mid-court ball that Musetti thrashed into the opposite doubles alley. “It’s so clear, it’s like this,” the exasperated Serb told the chair umpire, simulating the gap between the line and the mark in the clay with his thumb and forefinger.
That brought a chorus of jeers and whistles from the French crowd, which Djokovic first encouraged and then presided over like a conductor, waving his hands in time with the cacophony, much as he did in similar circumstances at last November’s ATP Finals. Thriving on the animus from the stands, Djokovic went on to break – and Musetti won just one of the next six games.
“I had this nice interaction with the crowd, and from that moment on he maybe lost his focus a bit, made some unforced errors, and the momentum shifted,” said Djokovic. “I feel like I, from that moment onwards, was playing better and managed to implement the kind of game that I really want tactically.
“I’m not looking for trouble with crowd. I’m not there coming out, ‘OK, start whistling at me and I’ll play better.’ It’s not the kind of mentality I have. But if people start to react in a certain way that I don’t think I deserve, I don’t think it’s fair – if I don’t think it’s anyhow explainable – then I’ll react back. I have grown up with that kind of mentality that if somebody is doing something wrong to you, you stand your ground.
“Musetti until that moment, that game, was the better player. I didn’t feel so comfortable playing, because I was dominated by Musetti at that point. And then, you know, I guess it came at the right moment.”
Djokovic will face Alex De Minaur for a place in the semi-finals after the 11th-seeded Australian defeated Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-4.