Djokovic is one of just three men to have racked up a century of titles.
The Serb still needs two to equal Roger Federer’s 103, while Jimmy Connors heads the list with 109.
It looked unlikely that he could add to his tally as 23-year-old Musetti’s tireless running and accurate serving helped him to the opening set.
But after recovering to force a decider, Djokovic toughed out the victory, trading service breaks in the 10th and 11th games of the final set before closing it out with a love hold.
“It was an incredible battle, I just, I don’t know,” said the top seed who, at 38 years and five months, became the oldest tournament winner since Australia’s Ken Rosewall won in Hong Kong in 1977 aged 43.
“Three hours. [It was] a gruelling match physically, super demanding. Lorenzo played really well. It could have been anybody’s game, anybody’s match so congrats to him for an amazing performance and I just feel very proud of myself to get through this one.”
It was Djokovic’s second title of 2025, having won on the clay of Geneva in May, while Musetti continues his wait for a maiden title after losing in six finals over the last two seasons.
In a double blow, the Italian failed to claim the win he needed to make the ATP Tour Finals in Turin, with Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime taking the final slot.
Djokovic, meanwhile, had already earned his place and has been drawn in a group with world number two Carlos Alcaraz, American Taylor Fritz and Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
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