Djokovic gets out of jail to reach Melbourne semis as Musetti retires

MELBOURNE, Jan 28 : Novak Djokovic continued his quest for a record-extending 11th Australian Open title and standalone 25th Grand Slam crown, but only after a cruel twist of fate for Lorenzo Musetti, who quit their quarter-final with an injury on Wednesday while leading.

While the stars seemed to align for the 38-year-old Serb in his hunt for more glory at the majors, Iga Swiatek's bid to seal a career Grand Slam - capturing all four of the sport's biggest titles - went up in smoke following a defeat by Elena Rybakina.

There were several swings in momentum for Jessica Pegula, who deservedly reached the Melbourne Park semi-finals for the first time after dashing fellow American Amanda Anisimova's hopes of reaching three straight major finals.

The drama in the day session was reserved for the afternoon match where Djokovic arrived fresh for battle with Musetti after getting a walkover on Sunday from Czech youngster Jakub Mensik, which scuttled their fourth-round meeting.

The Serb made a fast start but it was all one-way traffic as the artistic Musetti showed his full range of strokes and bagged the opening two sets, before the Italian pulled up holding the upper part of his right leg at the start of the third.

Musetti looked to soldier on after receiving treatment, but lasted only one more game and he threw in the towel leading 6-4 6-3 1-3 as stunned fans at the Rod Laver Arena let out a gasp and Djokovic quietly heaved a sigh of relief.

"I don't know what to say, except that I feel really sorry for him and he was a far better player," Djokovic said.

"I was on my way home. These things happen in sport and it's happened to me a few times, but being in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, two sets to love up and being in full