MELBOURNE: 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 due to injury on Wednesday holding a comfortable lead.

While the stars may seem to be aligning for Djokovic in his bid for more major glory, the road will only be more rocky after Jannik Sinner beat Ben Shelton to book a blockbuster semi-final against him, and Carlos Alcaraz potentially in the final.

Like Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek arrived in Melbourne chasing a career Grand Slam — the feat of winning all four of the sport’s biggest trophies — but her bid went up in smoke after a defeat by Elena Rybakina earlier in the day.

Jessica Pegula had little trouble as she 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 and Djokovic arrived fresh for the battle with fifth seed Musetti after getting a walkover on Sunday from injured Czech Jakub Mensik.

The Serb made a fast start but it was then 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,” said Djokovic, who had been uncharacteristically error strewn and staring down the barrel.

“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 control, I mean it’s so unfortunate. He should have been the winner today no doubt. I am extremely lucky to get through this one today.”

Djokovic has been trying to move past Margaret Court and clinch the landmark 25 since his last major title at the US Open in 2023. It has proved increasingly difficult with the emergence of Sinner and world number one Alcaraz.

Djokovic, who needed treatment during the match for a gruesome blister, added: “I am going to double my prayers and gratitude tonight to God for giving me this opportunity again.”

A heartbroken Musetti said he was pained by having to retire after taking a big lead against the experienced Djokovic, adding the trouble in his leg first began in the second set.

“I felt there was something strange,” he said. “I continued to play, because I was playing really well, but I was feeling that the pain was increasing, and the problem was not going away.

“In the end, when I took the medical timeout ... and started to play again, I felt it even more and it was getting higher and higher, the level of the pain.”

Although he eclipsed Roger Federer with his 103rd match win at Melbourne Park, the task will get only tougher for Djokovic when he meets Sinner, who won a 22nd consecutive set against big-serving Shelton in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory in the evening session.

Sinner holds a 6-4 win-loss record over Djokovic and has won their last five encounters. Despite that, Sinner said Djokovic still sets the standard for professionalism.

“Me, as a 24-year-old, I’m lucky to have someone like him in front of my eyes, and I can hopefully learn something,” said Sinner, who together with Alcaraz has dominated the last eight majors. “He’s an inspiration for all of us and especially the young players,” he added.

Djokovic admitted that Sinner was the “absolute favourite”.

“You never know,” he said. “Hopefully, I can deliver my A-game for that match, because that’s what’s going to be needed at least to have a chance. “I wasn’t playing close to my best today, so I’m going to have to change that around.”

PEGULA SETS UP RYBAKINA CLASH

As one fifth seed crashed, another advanced as Moscow-born Kazakh Rybakina booked her place in the semi-finals with a dominant 7-5, 6-1 win over six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek.

Rybakina has made the Melbourne final once before, in 2023 when she lost in three tough sets to Aryna Sabalenka.

The 26-year-old fifth seed took her latest victory in her stride, saying a calmer mindset helped in the heat of battle.

“In the beginning, when it’s the first final and you go so far in a tournament, of course you are more emotional,” said Rybakina. “Now I feel like I’m just doing my job, trying to improve each day. So it’s kind of another day, another match.”

Swiatek was left to rue the defeat and the lack of privacy in difficult moments off the court where players cannot escape cameras, a day after Coco Gauff’s racket-smashing meltdown in response to her defeat by Elina Svitolina.

“The question is, are we tennis players or are we animals in the zoo, where they are observed even when they poop?” she said. “That was exaggerating obviously, but it would be nice to have privacy. It would be nice also to have your own process and not always be observed.”

All eyes were on sixth seed Pegula as she stayed on course for her maiden Grand Slam trophy by beating Anisimova 6-2, 7-6 (7/1), sparkling despite testing moments towards the end of the clash.

Pegula and Rybakina have shared three wins each in their six matches so far.

Pegula is arrowing in on her first major crown at the age of 31, and like Rybakina, is yet to drop a set.

“It’s awesome,” Pegula said of reaching her first Australian semi-final, having beaten defending champion Madison Keys in the previous round.

She was helped by an error-riddled display from fourth seed Anisimova, who racked up 44 unforced errors to Pegula’s 21.

Her frustrations boiled over at the end as her hopes of reaching a third major final in a row melted away in a blur of mistakes.

“From start to finish there was a lot of momentum swings, but I thought I came out playing really well, and was able to just hold on there in the second and get that break back and take it in two,” Pegula said. “I showed good mental resilience there at the end not to get frustrated.”

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2026