Australian Open
Musetti completes major QF set, earns Djokovic clash at Australian Open
The fifth seed breaks Lexus ATP Head2Head tie with Fritz
January 26, 2026
Peter Staples
Lorenzo Musetti in action against Taylor Fritz on Monday at the Australian Open.
By Grant Thompson
Lorenzo Musetti downed fellow Top 10 star Taylor Fritz on Monday at the Australian Open, where the Italian is into his fourth major quarter-final and first in Melbourne.
Combining elite court coverage with his blistering shotmaking, Musetti scored a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory inside Rod Laver Arena to seal a set of quarter-final appearances at the four Slams.
Musetti’s Career-Best Result At Each Major
*Active
“I think today [my serve] was really working well,” said Musetti, who struck 13 aces and won 84 per cent of his first-serve points. “I think I made one of my best performances in aces in my career so far, so I’m really, really happy.
“When I finished last season pretty late, the goals were to start well this year, because I’d never surpassed the first week here. Making the final in Hong Kong, winning doubles in Hong Kong [with Lorenzo Sonego] and now being in the quarter-finals, for me, it’s really a dream.”
The fifth seed has earned a clash against record 10-time champion Novak Djokovic, who reached the last eight after Czech Jakub Mensik withdrew due to an abdominal muscle injury. Djokovic leads Musetti 9-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, and will enter Wednesday’s meeting on a six-match winning streak against the Italian.
Two days removed from playing a four-hour, 27-minute five-set battle against Tomas Machac, Musetti showed no obvious signs of fatigue under the afternoon sun. Musetti opened his shoulders and dictated play from the baseline, crushing 33 winners and using his heavy top-spin forehand to draw errors from Fritz.
The American struggled early to land his usually reliable serve, finishing the first set with a 42 per cent first-serve percentage, according to Infosys Stats. Though Fritz found more rhythm behind his delivery as the match wore on, he was unable to make inroads on return (0/2 on break points).
Sporting k-tape on both his left and right oblique areas, Fritz called for the physio at 3-2 in the second set. Musetti, a two-time tour-level titlist, broke Fritz to love at 5-5 later that set, allowing him to serve for a two-sets-to-love advantage. Musetti again broke Fritz in the opening game of the third set and rarely looked back, clinching victory after two hours and three minutes. Musetti kept his cool when serving for the match, landing three deft drop shots en route to holding to love.
“I definitely improved my serve a lot and especially trying to be more aggressive with the forehand and trying to use my variation to lead the game,” Musetti said when asked about adjustments he’s made to improve on hard courts. “Like today, with the forehand trying to open the court and make the opponent move. I think before, I was starting to play too far and I was a little too passive on the rally.
“My coach always keeps telling me to be a little more aggressive and try to go for it, take the lead of the rally. That’s what I did today.”
Musetti is competing at a career-high No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings this fortnight. Last year, he posted a career-best 45 tour-level match wins and competed at the year-end Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. With his latest win, Musetti improved to 4-3 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Fritz, who beat the Italian in Turin in November. The Italian’s victory marked his first hard-court win against Fritz.
Here to stay 😤
Lorenzo Musetti defeats Fritz 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time.@AustralianOpen | #AO26 pic.twitter.com/DYXdTDropk
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 26, 2026
