Musetti through to semi-final, Djokovic gets free pass
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. The 25th-seeded Musetti, a 22-year-old from Italy, never had made it past the third round at the All England Club – or past the fourth round at any major tournament – until this fortnight. He defeated 13th-seeded American Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. Now, though, comes a far tougher test – taking on Novak Djokovic. Djokovic earlier progressed to a record-equalling 13th Wimbledon semi-final without hitting a ball on Wednesday after Alex de Minaur pulled out injured. Australian ninth seed De Minaur, 25, announced shortly after midday at the All England Club that he was "devastated to pull out due to a hip injury." It means Djokovic has now equalled Roger Federer's men's record of 13 semi-final appearances at Wimbledon as he closes on the Swiss great's mark of eight singles titles. The 37-year-old Serbian is also through to a record-extending 49th men's Grand Slam semi-final. De Minaur, who beat Djokovic at the United Cup in January, said: "It's no secret that this would have been the biggest match of my career but it's a unique injury. "I woke up this morning wanting to feel some sort of miracle, but there was a high risk of making the injury worse if I stepped on court. One stretch, one slide could take this from a three to six weeks' injury to four months out." But a historic 25th Grand Slam triumph is coming into sharp focus for Djokovic, who demolished Holger Rune in straight sets in the fourth round on Tuesday. (AP/AFP)

Last updated: 2024-07-11 HKT 8:15 