Lorenzo Musetti takes first career win over Novak Djokovic

Lorenzo Musetti picked up one of the biggest wins of his career Thursday, defeating No. 1 Novak Djokovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 at the Monte Carlo Masters for his first-ever win over the Serbian player and second-ever against a top-five player.

The tense contest had been suspended by rain for about an hour with the score tied 1-1 in the third set. When play resumed, Musetti broke for a 4-3 lead before serving out the victory on his fourth match point.

Playing only his second match on clay this season, Djokovic dropped his serve five times in the second set as both players struggled with accuracy in windy conditions. Djokovic led 4-2 but could not hold his lead with Musetti's mix of drop shots and deep groundstrokes.

Djokovic was broken at love in the 11th game and was furious at the changeover, stomping on his racket and destroying it. Musetti kept his cool in the next game to serve out the set and force a decider.

«I'm struggling not to cry. It was a really long match, not easy conditions. It was a bit windy, cold,» Musetti said. «I'm really proud of myself. The rallies were long. It was a tough, physical battle. Beating Novak is something remarkable for me.»

Their last meeting on clay was a grueling clash at the 2021 French Open, in which Djokovic battled back from two sets down to win.

The 16th-seeded Musetti will next face seventh-seeded Jannik Sinner, who came from behind and saved a match point to get past No. 10-seeded Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1.

Sinner came out on top of a 22-shot rally when down 6-5 in the tiebreaker to remain in the match. Hurkacz lost the next two points and threw his racket in anger then totally lost his focus in the decider.

«Playing against him, I knew already from the beginning that it was