The Roland-Garros third-round match between Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti ended at 3:06 am — by far the latest finish in tournament history. Later on Sunday morning, Patrick Mouratoglou weighed in with his thoughts about Djokovic’s five-set victory.
Mouratoglou explained that the key for Djokovic, who trailed two sets to one, was that he was ready to pounce on any vulnerable moment for Musetti.
“Even at the most difficult moments, Djokovic made him feel, ‘I’m still here,’ the coach commented. “And believe me, if you have one little moment where you are going to start to hesitate, ‘I’ll be there.’ And he was there. And the momentum completely switched.”
Mouratoglou likened the four-hour and 14-minute match to a marathon in which Musetti was leading most of the way but Djokovic was always right on the Italian’s heels applying pressure.
“You know when you’re racing, when you’re running, imagine you’re doing a long race and you’re struggling because it’s tough,” Mouratoglou noted. “When you are leading, if there is someone behind you and you hear him, you hear his breath just behind you, it’s so tough because you feel, ‘if I slow down just a little bit I’m done, he’s going to pass me.’ [In] a tennis match it’s the same.”
KEY MOMENTS
0.20 – An incredible match between two champions — one who is the GOAT
0.35 – Musetti was playing the best tennis of his life in the second and third sets
0.46 – Djokovic knew that his opponent’s level was not sustainable in a five-set match
0.55 – It was inevitable that Musetti would hesitate mentally, and then Djokovic would strike
1:25 – Even the smallest momentum shift can make someone go from playing their best to playing their worst
1:44 – Mouratoglou compared the match to a long race, such as a marathon
1:57 – If your opponent is leading, you have to make him feel like you are right behind him
2:26 – When the leader starts to falter mentally and physically, you are there to take over
Mouratoglou explained that the key for Djokovic, who trailed two sets to one, was that he was ready to pounce on any vulnerable moment for Musetti.
“Even at the most difficult moments, Djokovic made him feel, ‘I’m still here,’ the coach commented. “And believe me, if you have one little moment where you are going to start to hesitate, ‘I’ll be there.’ And he was there. And the momentum completely switched.”
Mouratoglou likened the four-hour and 14-minute match to a marathon in which Musetti was leading most of the way but Djokovic was always right on the Italian’s heels applying pressure.
“You know when you’re racing, when you’re running, imagine you’re doing a long race and you’re struggling because it’s tough,” Mouratoglou noted. “When you are leading, if there is someone behind you and you hear him, you hear his breath just behind you, it’s so tough because you feel, ‘if I slow down just a little bit I’m done, he’s going to pass me.’ [In] a tennis match it’s the same.”
KEY MOMENTS
0.20 – An incredible match between two champions — one who is the GOAT
0.35 – Musetti was playing the best tennis of his life in the second and third sets
0.46 – Djokovic knew that his opponent’s level was not sustainable in a five-set match
0.55 – It was inevitable that Musetti would hesitate mentally, and then Djokovic would strike
1:25 – Even the smallest momentum shift can make someone go from playing their best to playing their worst
1:44 – Mouratoglou compared the match to a long race, such as a marathon
1:57 – If your opponent is leading, you have to make him feel like you are right behind him
2:26 – When the leader starts to falter mentally and physically, you are there to take over
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Even at the most difficult moments, he made him feel "I'm still here"
00:04 and believe me, if you have one little moment where you're gonna start to hesitate, I'll be there.
00:09 And he was there and the momentum completely switched.
00:13 We've witnessed an incredible match between two big champions,
00:20 one that is the greatest of all times, Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti.
00:25 But the two things that we learned from that match, whatever level you have, you can apply this.
00:30 Lessons every day in any match.
00:33 In the second and the third set, Musetti was playing for sure the best tennis he's ever played in his life.
00:39 He couldn't miss a shot. He was doing anything he wanted.
00:42 He was succeeding. Whatever he would try, he would succeed.
00:45 But Novak knew that nobody can play like this for five sets or four sets
00:50 without moments where he's gonna start to think about what he's doing.
00:54 And then, there will be an hesitation.
00:56 When there is an hesitation, Novak is here and he was there.
00:59 The guy can fall from being a god to being probably the worst day of his career.
01:06 Even when your opponent plays the best tennis ever and you feel that he's not missing anything,
01:12 but you have to keep in your mind that it's not his normal state.
01:15 He doesn't play like this.
01:16 And as he doesn't play like this, maybe he's on the edge.
01:19 And most probably, he is.
01:21 If you stay there, if you make him feel you're around,
01:24 at some point, when the momentum switches, the guy can fall really, really hard.
01:29 And that's exactly what happened in the fifth.
01:31 Second takeaway on this incredible match between Musetti and Novak Djokovic is
01:37 when your opponent plays the match of his life, you have to make him feel that you're here.
01:43 You know when you're racing, when you're running.
01:45 Imagine you're doing a long race and you're struggling because it's tough.
01:48 You're a bit out of breath. You're very much out of breath.
01:51 You feel you have no more energy, but you're still leading.
01:54 When you are leading, if there is someone behind you and you hear him,
01:57 you hear his breath just behind you, it's so tough because you feel,
02:02 I mean, if I slow down a little bit, I'm done. He's going to pass me.
02:05 So on a tennis match, it's the same.
02:07 You have to make your opponent feel that you are right behind him, just behind.
02:12 He has to hear your breath just behind, even though you're struggling,
02:16 even though he's winning, even though he's playing the best tennis of his life.
02:21 He has to know that you're right behind and in the moments where he's going to start to think,
02:26 doubt or just feel a bit out of breath, the fact that he knows you're right behind,
02:32 the fact that he knows that you're ready to jump on him,
02:35 is going to make him feel so bad and then you have a good chance to take over.
02:39 [Music]