MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Lorenzo Musetti has had to mature quickly to get into an Australian Open quarterfinal for the first time, and to be facing Novak Djokovic.
The 23-year-old Italian is without two members of his support team in Melbourne after both had to return home to deal with personal issues.
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Lorenzo Musetti of Italy reacts after defeating Taylor Fritz of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Lorenzo Musetti, left, of Italy, is congratulated by Taylor Fritz of the U.S. following his victory in their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Taylor Fritz of the U.S. reacts as he plays against Lorenzo Musetti of Italy during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Lorenzo Musetti of Italy reacts as he plays against Taylor Fritz of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Lorenzo Musetti of Italy reacts as he plays against Taylor Fritz of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Musetti also had to leave his partner, Veronica, and two little boys at home within weeks of the birth of his second son in November.
Having to deal with so much going on off the court has Musetti finely tuned to focus when he goes to work. On Monday, that was a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win over No. 9 Taylor Fritz, the 2024 U.S. Open runner-up.
“I feel more mature on the court. I’m playing better for that, and for them,” he said.
The support team in Melbourne isn't as big, but they've found a way to make things work.
“I think we are doing a great job, because the week before the start of the tournament, a lot of things happened,” Musetti said. “I think that maybe that helped me to be a better version of myself also on the court.
“I felt that also today. So I’m really, really proud. I want to continue to honor the team that is at home.”
He said his 13 aces and 86% first serve points won in the fourth round inspired one of the best serving performances of his career.
His win over an ailing Fritz completed a set of Grand Slam quarterfinals for Musetti, who is just the third player born since 2000 to achieve a set of all four following fellow Italian Jannik Sinner and top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
He said he still has half of his support team working with him, and he's keeping in touch with home across the time zones.
“I didn’t get much sleep in the offseason. But we found a way to work and to practice really well on and off the court,” Musetti added, speaking of his newborn son. “Now it’s more than 20 days that I’m alone and it’s not easy, but I feel their presence also here.”
His next mission is against a well-rested and rejuvenated Djokovic, who has won a record 10 Australian Open titles and reached the semifinals at Melbourne in each of the last two years.
The 24-time major winner had been scheduled to be the feature night match at Rod Laver Arena on Monday but had a walkover into the quarterfinals after his opponent Jakub Mensik withdrew from their scheduled fourth-round match with an abdominal injury.
Musetti said the hardest things about playing Djokovic in Australia, where he's won so many titles, are his sheer willpower and his deep experience in the conditions.
“Facing his character, his status as a player and as a champion,” Musetti said. Then “of course the way he turns around sometimes from (a) difficult situation, raising his level, never escaping from a match.”
Lorenzo Musetti of Italy reacts after defeating Taylor Fritz of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Lorenzo Musetti, left, of Italy, is congratulated by Taylor Fritz of the U.S. following his victory in their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Taylor Fritz of the U.S. reacts as he plays against Lorenzo Musetti of Italy during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Lorenzo Musetti of Italy reacts as he plays against Taylor Fritz of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Lorenzo Musetti of Italy reacts as he plays against Taylor Fritz of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes ticked higher, while other markets made louder moves, including another record-breaking rush for the price of gold. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% Monday and won back its losses from last week’s dip. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.4%. Baker Hughes helped lead the way after the energy technology company delivered a stronger profit report than analysts expected. Gold’s price briefly topped $5,100 per ounce for the first time, and silver surged even more. The U.S. dollar’s value slid again versus other currencies, particularly the Japanese yen.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are ticking higher Monday, while other markets make louder moves, including another record-breaking rush for the price of gold.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and won back its losses from last week’s dip. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 325 points, or 0.7%, as of 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.7% higher.
Baker Hughes helped lead the way and rose 5% after delivering a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The energy technology company said it’s benefiting from strong momentum in demand for liquefied natural gas, among other things.
CoreWeave jumped 7.2% after Nvidia said it invested $2 billion in the stock and will help accelerate the buildout of CoreWeave’s artificial-intelligence factories, which use Nvidia chips, by 2030 to advance AI adoption. Nvidia slipped 0.6%.
USA Rare Earth leaped 12.7% after saying the U.S. government agreed to invest $277 million to help the company produce heavy rare earths, minerals and magnets. The Trump administration also agreed to a proposed $1.3 billion loan, while the company separately raised $1.5 billion through private investors.
Much of the rest of Wall Street was relatively quiet. That included mixed performances for airlines, which had to cancel thousands of flights due to the winter storm that swept much of the United States over the weekend. Delta Air Lines lost 0.3%, and Southwest Airlines was virtually unchanged.
The action was stronger in the gold market, where the metal’s price rallied another 2.1% and briefly topped $5,100 per ounce for the first time to set another record. Silver surged even more, 14%.
Prices for precious metals have been soaring as investors look for safer places to park their money amid threats of tariffs, still-high inflation, political strife and mountains of debt for governments worldwide.
The latest worry to pile atop the swelling list was President Donald Trump's threat to impose a 100% tariff on goods from Canada if it signs a free trade deal with China.
The U.S. dollar’s value also continued its recent slide against peers. Last week, it was U.S. tariff threats related to Greenland that drove some global investors away from the dollar. This time, it was the Japanese yen leaping sharply because of expectations that officials in both Japan and the United States may intervene in the market to prop up the Japanese currency’s value.
More swings could be ahead for financial markets in a week full of big tests.
The Federal Reserve will announce its latest move on interest rates on Wednesday. It’s been lowering its main interest rate and has indicated more cuts may be on the way in 2026 to help shore up the job market and give the economy a boost.
Most economists expect it to hold steady on Wednesday, in part because inflation remains stubbornly above the Fed's 2% target and lower rates could worsen it. Whatever it decides, comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell following the decision could sway stock and bond markets.
Several of Wall Street’s most influential stocks are also set to deliver their latest earnings reports this week. That includes Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla on Wednesday and Apple on Thursday.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.21% from 4.24% late Friday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid mostly modest movements in Europe following some sharper swings in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.8% for one of the world’s bigger moves. A stronger yen could hurt Japanese exporters, and Toyota Motor fell 4.1%.
AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.
Trader William Lawrence works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist James Denaro works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Michael Capolino, left, and Specialist Thomas McArdle work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Options traders Anthony Spina, second left, and Brian Garvey, right, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Anthony Matesic, left, and trader Edward Curran work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Daniel Krieger is framed by his computer monitors as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Specialist Douglas Johnson works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer walks past near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
