Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti will face each other Wednesday in one of the strangest Australian Open quarterfinals you’ll ever see.
Both players will be walking onto the court without their coaches.
It’s pretty unusual for a Grand Slam quarterfinal. At this level of tennis, having the right game plan and tactical adjustments from your coach can make all the difference between winning and going home.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novak Djokovic | 38 | 8,360 | 18 - 6 |
But Djokovic and Musetti won’t have that luxury when they battle for a spot in the semifinals.
Boris Bosnjakovic, Djokovic’s coach, has been missing since the Serbian’s third-round match because he’s sick with a virus. He hasn’t even been at practice sessions, where Djokovic’s agent Carlos Gomez has been filling in instead.
There’s no word on when Bosnjakovic might return.
If Djokovic beats Musetti, his coach would have two days to recover before a potential semifinal against Jannik Sinner. But you can bet the 24-time Grand Slam champion will be careful about getting too close to his coach if he’s still sick.
Musetti’s situation is even tougher. He’s missing not one, but two members of his team.
His longtime coach Simone Tartarini had to return home after his mother passed away recently. On top of that, his fitness coach Damiano Fiorucci won’t be there for personal reasons either.
The Italian opened up about losing his team members after beating Taylor Fritz in the fourth round.
"It’s not easy to wake up every day, we had bad luck off the field. For personal reasons they had to return. But in their hearts they are here, it’s hard for me to talk about it. When real life knocks on the door, it can really surprise you and then you always understand life better."
You have to feel for both players, but especially Musetti.
Djokovic has been through pretty much everything in his career. The guy’s incredibly self-sufficient on court and knows how to handle adversity better than almost anyone.
We’ll find out Wednesday if that experience gives him an edge in this unusual matchup.
Djokovic Nearly Got Himself Disqualified Again
Novak Djokovic might be considered the greatest tennis player ever, but he came dangerously close to repeating one of the most embarrassing moments of his career at this year’s Australian Open.
During his third-round match against Botic van de Zandschulp, Djokovic was cruising along – he was up a set and had broken serve in the second.
Then he lost a point and got frustrated.
The Serbian smashed a ball in anger, and it came within inches of hitting a ball kid who had no idea it was coming. We’re talking inches here.
This should ring a bell for tennis fans.
Back at the 2020 US Open, Djokovic got defaulted – kicked out of the tournament – for hitting a line judge with a ball. The crazy thing is, he actually hit the ball softer in that incident than he did in Melbourne.
If that ball had made contact with the ball kid at the Australian Open, Djokovic would’ve been defaulted again. And the backlash probably would’ve been even worse this time around.
Talk about dodging a bullet.
Coco Gauff showed a different kind of restraint after her quarterfinal loss to Elina Svitolina. The 21-year-old managed to keep her cool during the match, even though she was getting demolished 6-1, 6-2.
But once she got backstage? That’s when she let loose and absolutely destroyed her racket.
At least she waited until the cameras weren’t rolling.
