It is the Musettian paradox
(Gaia Piccardi, sent to Melbourne) «He was the best on the pitch today: he should have won». Beelzebub no longer lives here, in the Australian den where he won ten Major titles out of 24 in his career. The flames have gone out: after the scorching Tuesday at 45 degrees, a cool breeze is now blowing in Melbourne, pushing Lorenzo Musetti up to two sets ahead of Novak Djokovic (6-4, 6-3), before at 1-2 Serbia in the third, down by a break, the blue starts to shake his head.
He felt the muscle in his right thigh pull on the previous blow, he asks the medical time out with tears in my eyes: the tournament physiotherapist massages him for a long time at the insertion between the thigh and hip, Lorenzo is pale as if he had seen a ghost. He starts playing again, coach Perlas comforts him from the corner (“Keep moving, stay warm, point by point”), there is the possibility of taking a painkiller at the next change of court, but Musetti has already understood everything. He can’t do it, and without consulting the team he withdraws at 15-40: it had already happened against Djokovic in Paris in 2021.
«Today I didn’t feel the ball, I was on the way home when Lorenzo got injured. I’m sorry, he deserved it but these things happen. What will I need in the semi-final? I don’t even know at this point…” Beelzebub smiles bitterly, still alive in this Australian Open who never resigns himself to the passing of time.
The start, with Musetti as tense as in the Hong Kong final and his arm needing to be untied, is in favor of Djoker, who is not Fritz: he comes forward, controls the exchange but it is a foul, a very foul. A missed smash on an empty pitch, in fact, offers the Italian the break point to immediately get back into the match: it is a forehand into the net from the Serbian that closes the gap (1-2). Then, in the wake of Djokovic’s free 18, the set becomes a land of conquest for the blue. Break at 3-2 with lob and smash on a slow opponent (4-2), game held at 15 (5-3), a great forehand down the line to make it 6-4.
The artisanal work of cutting and sewing with which Musetti exports its prized made in Italy to Australia worksthe serve has improved a lot: it is the second serve (71% of points in the first set), often played in a slice to the center, that makes the difference, while the awe towards the former number one seems to have finally evaporated.
The Djoker is a venerable 39 year old totem stuck in the ground: the reactivity is poor, the desire to quickly get rid of the exchange is great, at the risk of being skewered by passers-by of a still toned and healthy Musetti. A disastrous game by Lorenzo equalizes the break count at the start of the second set (1-1), but it is a venial sin: 2-1, 3-2, 5-3 Italy when the Serbian’s beau geste (admitting to having touched the ball on the rival’s delightful no-look passer, who ended up in the corridor) backfires. With a forehand down the line that is a photocopy of the one in the first set, Musetti takes the lead 6-3.
It seems done. The dejected and resigned Djoker has his blistered right foot treated, Musetti seems ready to take flight on the wings of a talent freed from ghosts and self-boycotts. But fate, once again, lays its finger on us. The injury in the third game forces Lorenzo to surrender: the dream of the first Slam semi-final in Australia fades, on that fast pace which is not exactly his habitat, perhaps against Sinner playing in the evening with Shelton.
The possibility of climbing to number 3 in the rankings from Monday also disappears. Beyond the damage, the insult: Djokovic overtakes Zverev in fourth, who remains ahead of the blue. The Musetti paradox, having more tennis than everyone else (together with Alcaraz) in the arm but find everything damn complicated, it is confirmed to be an insoluble puzzle that has been so far insoluble.
