Novak Djokovic who suffered a shock third-round defeat to Lorenzo Musetti in the Principality and history threatened to repeat itself at this year’s edition after the Italian led by a break in the first set.
However, defeating Djokovic twice is no easy feat and the World No. 1 refused to succumb, finding enough consistency at crucial moments to advance to the quarter-finals 7-5, 6-3.
“It was a little exchange with the crowd at 4-3, 40/0 for him in the first set and ever since then I gained momentum,” Djokovic said when asked how he turned the tide in the opening set. “He lost focus a little bit. He was the better player for those first seven games, played some great tennis. Played really good shots and made me run.
“But this is clay and obviously things can turn around very quickly and a break of serve is not as a big advantage on this surface compared to the other surfaces. We saw a little bit of a rollercoaster in the second set, so I am pleased that staying tough and aggressive in the tight moments paid off.”
Djokovic now leads the 22-year-old 4-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and will next meet Alex de Minaur after the Australian beat countryman Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-4 to become the first Aussie to reach the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo since Mark Philippoussis in 1999.
Djokovic is a two-time champion in the Principality, triumphing in 2013 and 2015. He has failed to advance beyond the quarter-final stage since his previous title victory nine years ago but will hope to change that record when he meets De Minaur on Friday.
The 98-time tour-level champion is still searching for his first trophy of the season, with his best result a semi-final run at the Australian Open.
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