Melbourne, Jan 26 : Italian tennis star Lorenzo Musetti registered a convincing 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory against the ninth-seeded American Taylor Fritz in the fourth round of the Australian Open, prevailing into his fourth major quarter-final and first here in Melbourne.

The Italian was in control for most of the contest, using his variety and consistency to keep Fritz under pressure. Musetti served efficiently throughout the match, winning 84 per cent of points on his first serve and 74 per cent on his second, while also striking 13 aces.

Musetti made a strong start by breaking Fritz early in the opening set and went on to take it comfortably. The second set proved more competitive, but Musetti raised his level at crucial moments, converting break points to seal the set 7-5. In the third set, the 21-year-old maintained his momentum and closed out the match without facing any major threat.

â??I think today my serve was really working well. I think I made one of my best performances in aces in my career so far, so Iâ??m really, really happy. When I finished last season pretty late, the goals were to start well this year, because Iâ??d never surpassed the first week here. Making the final in Hong Kong, winning doubles in Hong Kong (with Lorenzo Sonego) and now being in the quarter-finals, for me, itâ??s really a dream," said Musetti.

With this win, the fifth-seed Italian has earned a clash against record 10-time champion Novak Djokovic, who reached the last eight after Czech Jakub Mensik withdrew due to an abdominal muscle injury.

"Novak, we played many, many times, and every time it's a lesson, first of all," Musetti said after the match. It's such an honour to share the court against him. Every time I leave the court with something, and that's something, of course, that I really think is helping me to try to win against him," he added.

Djokovic leads Musetti 9-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and will enter Wednesday's meeting on a six-match winning streak against the Italian. Last week, the Serbian great collected his win No.100 at the Australian Open, became the first player to reach 400 wins at Grand Slams and overtook Roger Federer for the most menâ??s quarterfinals in tournament history.

/IANS