Novak Djokovic issued the perfect response after being booed by the crowd during his match against Lorenzo Musetti at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The Serb cruised to a straight-sets victory to book his place in the quarter-finals but the match did not go without incident.
During the first set, Djokovic was left frustrated by an errant line call with replays showing that Musetti’s shot, which had been called in, was actually out. The 36-year-old flagged the mistake to the umpire, saying it was ‘clear’ before fans launched a chorus of boos in his direction.
Djokovic took it all in his stride and responded brilliantly by orchestrating the jeers, telling the crowd to keep them coming. He went on to win the point, breaking Musetti from 40-15 down before wrapping up the first set of the match.
It took a while for Djokovic to find his feet, with Musetti breaking him in the first game before threatening to move into a 4-1 double-break lead. The former eventually hit back, reeling off seven of the next eight games to put himself up a set and a break.
Musetti got on the board with a break in the second set but Djokovic kept the pressure on and returned the favour with a break of his own. He went on to blast a forehand winner down the line to give himself three match points but only needed one, with Musetti firing beyond the baseline in the final exchange.
The result saw Djokovic avenge last year’s defeat to Musetti, with the young Italian pulling off a shock to send his rival crashing out in round three. He roared back from a set down on that occasion but there was no sign of a repeat on Wednesday as Djokovic turned on the style to earn himself a spot in the last eight.
Speaking ahead of his match against Musetti, Djokovic declared that he was going into the contest with no fear despite the potential banana skin of facing the same opponent who stunned him a year ago.
“He obviously is, you know, one of the most talented players on clay, a beautiful one-handed backhand,” said Djokovic in his pre-match press conference. “He’s very athletic. He can do a lot of great things. He’s one of the most promising young players not only from Italy but generally for the world.
“I like the way I played my first match comparing to the first match last year. I feel more ready, so whoever is across the net, I’m hoping I can deliver my best game.”
