Novak Djokovic was involved in a moment of drama with the crowd during his third-round match against Lorenzo Musetti at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Djokovic booked his place in the Round of 16 of the Masters 1000 event with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Roman Safiullin. He was up against Lorenzo Musetti in a rematch of their encounter at this very stage in Monte-Carlo last year.
The Italian broke Djokovic’s serve in the very first game of the match and was serving at 4-3. During the game, the Serb wasn’t happy with a line call that went in Musetti’s favor, believing that the Italian’s shot was out and had a word with the umpire about the same.
By this time, the crowd began to boo Djokovic and he responded in style with a mock orchestration. The Serb went on to win the game and break Musetti.
This isn’t the first time Djokovic has reacted like this to being booed by a crowd. He had done a similar thing during his round-robin match against Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals in Turin in November 2023.
Djokovic eventually went on to win his match against Musetti, beating him 7-5, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters for the first time since 2019. He now leads 4-1 in the head-to-head against the Italian.
Novak Djokovic will face Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters
After beating Lorenzo Musetti, Djokovic will next take on 11th seed Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters. The Aussie booked his place in the last eight of the Masters 1000 tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 win over compatriot Alexei Popyrin in the third round.
Djokovic and De Minaur will lock horns for the third time, with their head-to-head currently tied at 1-1.
The Serb won the first encounter between the two 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open before the Aussie triumphed 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinal tie between Serbia and Australia at this season’s United Cup.
Victory for Djokovic will see him reach the semifinals in Monte-Carlo for the first time since 2015. Alex de Minaur, meanwhile, will reach the final four of a Masters 1000 event for the first time in his career if he comes out on top.
