VIDEO SHOWS: AUSTRALIAN OPEN POST MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE SOUNDBITES FROM NOVAK DJOKOVIC AND LORENZO MUSETTI RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 28, 2026)(TENNIS AUSTRALIA – See restrictions) 1. NOVAK DJOKOVIC WALKING IN FOR PRESS CONFERENCE AND BEING SEATED 2. WHITE FLASH 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) 10-TIME AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHAMPION, NOVAK DJOKOVIC SAYING: "I'm chasing Jannick (Sinner) and Carlos (Alcaraz). In which sense?" REPORTER SAYING: "In terms of winning Grand Slam titles just right now?" DJOKOVIC SAYING: "So I'm always the chaser and I've never been chased." REPORTER SAYING: "In the meantime, you won 24 Grand Slams, but I'm saying…" DJOKOVIC: "It's worth saying that sometimes, right?" REPORTER SAYING: "Sorry, I should have." 4. WHITE FLASH 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOVAK DJOKOVIC, IN RESPONSE TO WHETHER HE IS CHASING SINNER AND ALCARAZ, SAYING: "I find it a little bit disrespectful that you kind of miss out on what happened in between, where the times when I started chasing, as you say, Rafa and Roger, and now that I'm chasing Carlos and Yannick, and there's probably about a 15-year period in between where I was dominating the Grand Slams." 6. WHITE FLASH 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOVAK DJOKOVIC, IN RESPONSE TO WHETHER HE IS CHASING SINNER AND ALCARAZ, SAYING: "I don't feel like I'm chasing, to be honest. Roger (Federer) and Rafa (Nadal) will always be my greatest rivals. I have tremendous respect for what Jannik and Carlos are doing, and they continue to do, and they will do for the next 10 to 15, 20 years, God knows how many years they're going to play. They're so young." 8. WHITE FLASH 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOVAK DJOKOVIC, IN RESPONSE TO WHETHER HE IS CHASING SINNER AND ALCARAZ, SAYING: "I mean, are they better right now than me and mostly all the other guys? Yes, they are. I mean, the quality and the level is amazing. It's great. It's phenomenal. But does that mean that I walk out with a white flag? No. I mean, I'm going to fight till the last shot, till the last point, and do my very best to challenge them." 10. WHITE FLASH 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOVAK DJOKOVIC, WHEN ASKED IF HE HAS TO STEP UP, SAYING: "I mean, I don't want to take out anything from Musetti's variety that he put in and the quality of tendency he put in today. It was great for sure. But I think I've underperformed for the level that I showed throughout this tournament up to today." 12. WHITE FLASH 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOVAK DJOKOVIC, WHEN ASKED IF HE HAS TO STEP UP, SAYING: "So, yeah, I have to play better. I mean, no doubt about it." 14. WHITE FLASH 15. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOVAK DJOKOVIC, WHEN ASKED IF HE HAS TO STEP UP, SAYING: "And I've been in this situation many, many times in my career and obviously four times last year. I'm glad to repeat the best Grand Slam result from last year, which is reaching the semis. You know, I know that it's only going to get tougher from here, but I have to be ready for it now. I mean, I cannot predict the result or whether I'm going to play well or not. But I'm definitely going to give my best." 16. WHITE FLASH 17. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOVAK DJOKOVIC, WHEN ASKED ABOUT VIDEO OF COCO GAUFF BREAKING RACKET CAPTURED ON CAMERA AND BROADCAST, SAYING: "I empathize with her. I mean, I know what it feels like to break a racket, and I've done it a few times in my career. So I know how it is to be frustrated, particularly after a match where you underperform. And I agree with her. You know, it's really sad that you know you can't basically move away anywhere and hide, and you know, what do you call that, you mouth your frustration, your anger in a way that won't be captured by a camera. But we live in a society and in times where content is everything. So it's a deeper discussion." 18. WHITE FLASH 17. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOVAK DJOKOVIC, ON THE CAMERAS FOLLOWING PLAYERS EVERYWHERE, SAYING: "I'm on the tour for quite a bit, so I remember the time when we didn't have so many cameras. And now and then that transition of really getting used to having an eye that you don't hear and may sometimes forget about always on you is frightening because at times you want to relax and maybe, I don't know, be yourself in a sense that you don't want the public to see. But that's, it's really hard for me to see that that's going backwards. It's just something that I guess we have to accept." 18. WHITE FLASH 19. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LORENZO MUSETTI WHEN ASKED IF IT WAS THE HARDEST THING TO RETIRE, PLAYING SO WELL AGAINST DJOKOVIC AND LEADING BY TWO SETS, SAYING: "Well, definitely, yes. Honestly, I never imagined the feeling of leading two sets to zero against Novak and playing like that and have the lead of the match like that and be forced to retire is something that, of course, I would never imagine, and of course it's really painful." 20. WHITE FLASH 22. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LORENZO MUSETTI ON WHEN HE STARTED TO FEEL THE PAIN, SAYING: "Well, yeah, I felt it at the beginning of the second set. I felt there was something strange in my right leg, and I continued to play because I was playing really, really, really well. But I was feeling that the pain was increasing and the problem was not getting away. And it was at the end when he took the medical timeout, just stayed three minutes out, I'm like seated. And then when I started to play again, I felt even more and was getting higher and higher the level of the pain, so not much to say about it." 23. WHITE FLASH 24. MUSETTI LEAVING PRESSER STORY: 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 with an injury on Wednesday (January 28) while leading. While the stars seemed to align for the 38-year-old Serb in his hunt for more glory at the majors, he dismissed the question about him 'chasing Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner' at Grand Slams now, adding that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will always be his rivals. A distraught Musetti was struggling to comprehend how injury robbed him of victory against Novak Djokovic and a place in the Australian Open semi-final on Wednesday. The Italian fifth seed outclassed the 24-time Grand Slam champion for two sets at Rod Laver Arena, leading 6-4 6-3 but was then struck by an upper leg injury. He was 3-1 down in the third set when he quit having had the trainer on court shortly before. Djokovic, who himself had issues with blistered feet, admitted afterwards he was "on his way home" until Musetti's bad luck and wished the Italian a quick recovery. For Musetti though it was a heart-breaking end to another Grand Slam challenge after being forced to retire injured in last year's French Open semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz. (Production: Bhagya Ayyavoo)
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