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Djokovic Takes Revenge over Musetti at Monte Carlo Masters

Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a backhand return to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti during their Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament round of 16 tennis match on the Rainier III court at the Monte Carlo Country Club on April 11, 2024. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a backhand return to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti during their Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament round of 16 tennis match on the Rainier III court at the Monte Carlo Country Club on April 11, 2024. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
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Djokovic Takes Revenge over Musetti at Monte Carlo Masters

Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a backhand return to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti during their Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament round of 16 tennis match on the Rainier III court at the Monte Carlo Country Club on April 11, 2024. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a backhand return to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti during their Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament round of 16 tennis match on the Rainier III court at the Monte Carlo Country Club on April 11, 2024. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)

Novak Djokovic looked sluggish at times and hit several unforced errors but raised his game on important points to advance to the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday.
The top-ranked Serb, a two-time Monte Carlo champion, gained revenge over Lorenzo Musetti, who beat him last year at the Country Club in the third round. Djokovic converted five of six break points and progressed with a confidence-boosting 7-5, 6-3 win.
“The challenge today was really tough. I lost against him last year at the same stage of the tournament, so I’m glad I really found some solidity,” said Djokovic, who is playing in his first tournament since parting ways with former coach Goran Ivanisevic.
Djokovic has not played much this year and is 10-3 with his best result a semifinal run at the Australian Open. He is using the Monte Carlo clay-court tournament to fine-tune his preparations for the French Open next month.
Djokovic dropped his serve immediately and struggled to adapt to Musetti's variety of shots, The Associated Press reported. The Italian produced some great drop shots, was solid from the baseline and his one-handed backhands put Djokovic on the back foot.
A turning point came in the eighth game when Djokovic broke after Musetti blew a 40-0 lead. The Serb broke again in the 12th game after Musetti hit a double-fault to drop the set.
Both players struggled to hold their serves in the second set but Djokovic came out on top in the decisive points.
Djokovic won the title in Monte Carlo in 2013 and 2015. He has not advanced past the quarterfinals since his last victory at the Country Club nine years ago.
His next opponent will be Alex de Minaur, who beat Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-4.

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Naomi Osaka Loses to Karolina Muchova in US Open Second Round  

Japan's Naomi Osaka reacts during her women's singles second round tennis match against Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on day four of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
Japan's Naomi Osaka reacts during her women's singles second round tennis match against Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on day four of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Naomi Osaka Loses to Karolina Muchova in US Open Second Round  

Japan's Naomi Osaka reacts during her women's singles second round tennis match against Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on day four of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
Japan's Naomi Osaka reacts during her women's singles second round tennis match against Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on day four of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)

Seemingly back in her US Open match, suddenly a point from getting to a third set, Naomi Osaka lost her way Thursday night, missing forehand after forehand until she ceded that game and chucked her racket, sending it clattering on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

Not much later, she was out of the tournament, eliminated 6-3, 7-6 (5) by Karolina Muchova in the second round of an event where Osaka won two of her four Grand Slam titles.

“It's a little rough, because I do take these losses really personally. It’s like a dramatic word, but I feel like my heart dies every time I lose,” said Osaka, the champion at Flushing Meadows in 2018 and 2020, and at the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021. “It sucks a lot, but I’ve been trying to be more mature and learn and talk more about them.”

Osaka — once ranked No. 1 but now No. 88 after missing nearly 1 1/2 years because of mental health breaks and time off to have a baby — struggled for much of the early going, dropping five consecutive games and 22 of 26 points in one stretch.

But she played much better in the second set, getting her only break of the match to lead 5-4 and yelling “Come on!” when Muchova netted a forehand. The crowd roared for Osaka.

Serving for that set, Osaka hit a 119 mph ace, her fastest of the match, to lead 40-love. That gave her three chances to extend the match to a third set. That's when Osaka really faltered, making five forehand errors, with a double-fault mixed in, to waste all three of those set points and, worse, get broken.

“During the pressure moments, I got nervous, and I don’t know if I just have to keep playing more matches and get used to that feeling, especially on a really big stage,” Osaka said. “Honestly, if I get past the disappointment, I feel pretty proud of myself to have gotten that many opportunities while still feeling like I could have played much better.”

When they got to the tiebreaker, it was Muchova who asserted herself, then used some scrambling defense on the last point, flinging the ball back over the net and seeing Osaka send a swinging volley out.

“This is unbelievable — the atmosphere and the people. This is crazy energy,” said Muchova, a 28-year-old from the Czech Republic.

She enjoyed a breakout season in 2023, reaching the final at the French Open before losing to Iga Swiatek, and the semifinals at the US Open before exiting against eventual champion Coco Gauff. But shortly after that run at Flushing Meadows, Muchova left the tour because of an injured right wrist and she had surgery in October.

She was sidelined until this June; her Grand Slam return was a first-round loss at Wimbledon last month.

“Honestly, this year, the biggest win for me is that I could play again,” Muchova said. “This is just a cherry on top, to be here again, in this stadium.”

On this brisk evening, with the temperature dipping to 70 degrees after topping 90 on Wednesday afternoon, Muchova did not look at all like someone who is currently ranked 52nd.

Using a pen to jot down thoughts in a notebook during changeovers, Osaka was never able to seize control of the on-court exchanges.

Her groundstrokes were not as perfect as they were during a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko on Tuesday. Osaka did not make a single unforced error until the second set of that one, which became her first win against an opponent ranked in the top 10 in more than four years.

But if Osaka played so-so this time, Muchova was the one who looked terrific, whether serve-and-volleying or mixing in slices, finding her spots with serves or turning up the power when she wanted.

From the moment Osaka went ahead 3-2 at the start, everything went in Muchova's direction through the end of that set. And just as it seemed Osaka was getting back into the contest — with thousands of spectators supporting her — her forehand let her down.