Tennis
2026-01-28 - Lorenzo Musetti vs Novak Djokovic
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : Australian Open Quarter Final
Wednesday 28th January 2025 - Scheduled 2:30pm
3:30am (British Time)
Preview
It is not going to surprise anyone that 38 year old Novak Djokovic has produced declining numbers on the hard courts over the last couple of seasons.
However, all credit has to be given to the twenty-four time Grand Slam Champion that he continues to produce at a level that most mortals would consider very high.
The drop from the previous level is hard to ignore and makes it easy to not see Djokovic at the same light as previously, but this is a player that continues to look after himself very well and has all of the experience to deal with adversity.
He has yet to be given a real challenge at the Australian Open, but Novak Djokovic is very comfortable on this court and receiving a walkover in the Fourth Round can only be a positive for him. It has been some time that Novak Djokovic has been making it openly known that he feels he has run out of steam at the business end of Grand Slams and not had the energy to beat Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, while also feeling that he would have to beat both to win a twenty-fifth Slam title.
Lacking energy cannot be an excuse when not having to go out on the court in what have been tough conditions over the last few days in Melbourne and Novak Djokovic is the favourite in this Quarter Final.
Lorenzo Musetti just crushed Taylor Fritz and so will be playing with a lot of confidence, while the Italian has easily had his best year on the hard courts. His opening to 2026 suggests Musetti can build on that, while he took a set from Novak Djokovic on the hard courts for the first time when facing him in the Final in Athens at the back end of the 2025 season.
Despite that, Lorenzo Musetti came up short and has lost all four hard court matches played against the former World Number 1 and so will have something to prove.
Here at Melbourne Park, Lorenzo Musetti has been serving pretty well and he is going to have to keep Novak Djokovic from taking control of rallies by producing a strong opening shot.
This has been a challenge for him against this opponent and that may show up over the course of the three plus hours that these two players will likely need to spend on the court.
Novak Djokovic will know that while he is struggling to keep up with the top two players in the world, like many on the ATP Tour, that there is also a closing of the gap between some of those climbing the World Rankings.
However, he still has some real aura on the court and Novak Djokovic can serve well enough to get out of one or two more jams compared with the World Number 5 and that should see the Serb come through in three or four sets.
Prediction
This is going to be a fun Quarter Final for the fans, but the ten time former Champion in Melbourne will benefit from the walkover in the Fourth Round.
He may not be at the level he once was, but Novak Djokovic is still a very effective hard court player and can win this one without being pushed into a deciding set.
The Pick :
Lorenzo Musetti 1-3 Novak Djokovic
