LONDON (AP) 鈥� Lorenzo Musetti threw his head back and spread his arms wide to celebrate reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon, then covered his face with both hands.
His 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Taylor Fritz on Wednesday was a big deal, to be sure. After all, the 25th-seeded Musetti, a 22-year-old from Italy, never had made it past the third round at 鈥� or past the fourth round at any major tournament 鈥� until this fortnight.
Now, though, comes a far tougher test: taking on Novak Djokovic.
鈥淗e probably knows, better than me, the surface and the stadium, for sure,鈥� Musetti said with a chuckle, aware he鈥檒l be making his Centre Court debut on Friday. 鈥淛okes apart, he鈥檚 a legend everywhere, but especially here in Wimbledon.鈥�
This will be Djokovic's record-tying 13th semifinal at Wimbledon alone 鈥� equaling Roger Federer 鈥� and 49th Slam semifinal overall, extending a mark he already held. As Musetti pursues his first major championship, , including what would be an eighth at the All England Club.
Djokovic's smooth trip through this year鈥檚 bracket was made even easier when the man he was supposed to play in the quarterfinals Wednesday, hours before their match was scheduled to begin.
Musetti was forced to work for his spot in the final four: His 3 1/2-hour victory over the was the 37th five-setter at the All England Club this year, the most at any Grand Slam tournament.
Musetti acknowledged he didn鈥檛 get off to an ideal start but added, 鈥淚 played my best tennis at the end. I kept the best for the end.鈥�
Playing at a sun-swathed No. 1 Court against Fritz, an American who is one of the sport's biggest servers but fell to 0-4 in major quarterfinals, Musetti managed to accumulate 13 break points and convert six. The outcome-determining break came on a forehand winner by Musetti that made it 2-0 in the last set; moments later, another break made it 4-0.
Musetti's first break came early in the second set and that, he said, altered the course of the evening.
鈥淚mmediately, I changed my mind. I changed my attitude," he said. 鈥淎nd that probably made the difference.鈥�
With Queen Camilla, the wife of , in the stands and joining fans in doing the wave, there was not a ton of variety exhibited by either player; they were mainly content to trade groundstrokes from the baseline. But Musetti did manage to accrue points with effective drop shots, occasionally following them with successful passing attempts or lobs.
less than a month before the start of play at the All England Club. But despite , the 37-year-old so far 鈥� facing a qualifier in the first round, a wild-card entrant in the second and only one seeded player, No. 15 Holger Rune.
Instead of going up against No. 9 de Minaur on Wednesday, Djokovic will get three full days off before meeting Musetti. The other semifinal Friday is defending champion Carlos Alcaraz against Daniil Medvedev.
Djokovic and Musetti have played each other six times previously. Djokovic has won five of those, that concluded after 3 a.m. It was in Djokovic鈥檚 following match in Paris that he tore the meniscus in his right knee.
鈥淲e know each other pretty well. They鈥檝e always been a huge fight so I expect a big, big fight. It鈥檚 going to be one of the toughest challenges on tour,鈥� Musetti said, 鈥渂ut I am an ambitious guy and I like to be challenged.鈥�
Wednesday, 2022 champion grabbed nine of the last 11 games to defeat No. 21 Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-2, and No. 31 Barbora Krejcikova eliminated No. 13 Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-6 (4) in a matchup between two past champions at the French Open.
The other women鈥檚 semifinal on Thursday is No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy against unseeded Donna Vekic of Croatia.
Kazakhstan鈥檚 Rybakina ended her win with her seventh ace and improved to 19-2 at Wimbledon in four appearances.
鈥淒efinitely, I have an aggressive style of game,鈥� Rybakina said. 鈥淚 have a huge serve, so it鈥檚 a big advantage.鈥�
, but the 28-year-old from the Czech Republic never put together a five-match winning streak on grass until now.
De Minaur鈥檚 exit is . His hip issue arose right at the end of his win against Arthur Fils on Monday.
De Minaur said he heard a crack and knew something was wrong.
He underwent medical tests Tuesday that revealed the extent of the problem but tried to practice on Wednesday morning, hoping to participate in what would have been his first Wimbledon quarterfinal.
鈥淭his was the biggest match of my career," de Minaur said, 鈥渟o wanted to do anything I could to play.鈥�
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AP tennis:
Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
