The Serbian world number one, who holds the record for Masters 1000 titles with 38, was only champion twice on the Monegasque clay (2013 and 2015). Since then he hasn’t made it past the quarterfinals.
Musetti will face his compatriot Jannik Sinner (8th) in the quarterfinals.
Djokovic had opened with victory in Monte Carlo on Tuesday, although suffering more than expected to beat the Russian Ivan Gakhov (198th) 7-6 (7/5) and 6-2. But in his second obstacle, Djokovic went to the ground and now casts doubt on his goal of winning Roland Garros in June, his immediate priority, as he himself stressed on Sunday in the Principality.
The Monte Carlo Masters 1000 meant a reappearance on the circuit for the Belgrade tennis player after not competing since the beginning of March, since he could not be on the recent US tour (Indian Wells and Miami) due to his refusal to get vaccinated against covid-19. 19.
The match between Djokovic and Musetti was interrupted by rain for an hour, when the score was 6-4, 5-7 and 1-1, with 40/30 for the Serb with his serve. Musetti achieved the decisive ‘break’ in the third set to go up 4-3 and then move to 5-3. He then served at 5-4 to win the match. He needed four match balls and in the fourth he sealed his great victory.
“In the last game I was trembling. I was afraid of winning. But normally, I had never beaten the number one in the world,” the 21-year-old Italian celebrated.
Musetti’s rival in the quarterfinals, his compatriot Jannik Sinner, was on the brink of the precipice in the round of 16 before winning 3-6, 7-6 (8/6) and 6-1 against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, who wasted a match point.
“Now I’m in the tournament,” said Sinner, who in the second round, in his tournament debut, benefited from Diego Schwartzman’s withdrawal due to injury. “I needed a game like this, now I have rhythm, I’m not at my best level yet but I’m improving every day,” added the 21-year-old, a finalist in Miami and a semifinalist in Indian Wells.
Hurkacz was about to give the surprise when he had a match point at 6-5 in the ‘tie break’ of the second set, but Sinner chained three points that put his victory on track, sweeping the third set.