{"id":488902,"date":"2026-01-28T22:31:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T23:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=488902"},"modified":"2026-01-29T01:22:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T01:22:22","slug":"djokers-incredible-act-of-sportsmanship-buried-by-retirement-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=488902","title":{"rendered":"Djoker's incredible act of sportsmanship buried by retirement twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic<\/a> showcased his class on Wednesday, delivering a remarkable display of sportsmanship in his Australian Open<\/a> quarter-final clash against Lorenzo Musetti in a moment that was easily missed in the chaos of his opponent's retirement when the Italian led two sets to love.<\/p>\n

The match ended abruptly when Musetti quit because of an injury<\/a>, the world No.5 deciding he couldn't continue despite leading 6-4, 6-3, 1-3.<\/p>\n

His retirement handed Djokovic a spot in yet another Australian Open semi final under bittersweet circumstances.<\/p>\n

LIVE UPDATES:<\/strong> Djokovic whacks journalist over 'disrespectful' question<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Sinner defies 'odds' to set up Djokovic showdown<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Waratahs coach breaks silence on wild pre-season brawl\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Novak<\/p>\n

During the second set, Djokovic stunned the crowd with an incredible act of sportsmanship.<\/p>\n

\ufeffDown a set and trailing 5-3 in the second, the fourth seed found himself serving for survival when, during a pivotal rally, he rushed the net in a vain effort to put away a volley.<\/p>\n

Musetti countered with a cross-court passing shot that went wide by a fraction, seemingly handing Djokovic the point to go up 40-15.<\/p>\n

However, instead of accepting the call, Djokovic immediately alerted the chair umpire that he had feathered the ball before it landed, insisting the point be awarded to Musetti instead.<\/p>\n

"No, no, no, I touched it," \ufeffDjokovic told chair umpire James Keothavong.<\/p>\n

Watch the Australian Open live & free on the 9Network &<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a> is the only place to watch every match, live & on demand with centre court in 4K.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Novak's<\/p>\n

The move earned immediate praise from the commentary box.<\/p>\n

"I didn't see that," John McEnroe said during Nine's broadcast.<\/p>\n

Fellow commentator Brenton Speed added: "\ufeffOh wow. What a sporting gesture that was from Novak Djokovic, alerting the umpire to a touch."<\/p>\n

Djokovic's honesty was capitalised upon moments later as Musetti broke serve, seizing the second set 6-3 and taking complete control of the match.<\/p>\n

However, the momentum quickly shifted in the third set.<\/p>\n

The Italian was forced to retire with a suspected muscle tear to his upper right leg, an injury that left him barely able to move across the court.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Speaking afterwards, \ufeffDjokovic was humble, conceding he would almost certainly have lost the match had Musetti not been hurt.<\/p>\n

His humility and empathy drew a round of applause from the crowd\ufeff.<\/p>\n

"I don't know what to say, except that I feel really sorry for him," Djokovic said.<\/p>\n

"He was a far better player. I was on my way home tonight. I don't know what to say. I mean, these kinds of things happen in sport, and it happened to me a few times.<\/p>\n

"But being in the quarters of a grand slam, two sets to love up and being in full control … so unfortunate, I don't know what else I can say.<\/p>\n

"I really wish him a speedy recovery, and he should have been a winner today."<\/p>\n

The retirement followed a walkover in the fourth round, with Djokovic acknowledging to media in his press conference after the Musetti match that he had been blessed by the tennis gods in this tournament.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI'm going to double my prayers tonight for sure, and gratitude to the god for giving me this opportunity once again," he said.<\/p>\n

"I'm \ufeffgoing to do my best in a couple of days to use it."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic showcased his class on Wednesday, delivering a remarkable display of sportsmanship in his Australian Open quarter-final clash against Lorenzo Musetti in a moment […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":488904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488902"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=488902"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":488908,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488902\/revisions\/488908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/488904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=488902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=488902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=488902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}