After overcoming his thigh injury and six opponents, Novak Djokovic is only one game away from the record of 22 Grand Slam titles held by Rafael Nadal, and only Stefanos Tsitsipas can now deprive him of it on Sunday in the final of the Australian Open.
The winner of this final will also dislodge the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz from the place of world No.1.
“I won the last (final played against Tsitsipas, at Roland-Garros in 2021, editor’s note) so I keep the positive! But I was down two sets to zero”, commented the 35-year-old Serb.
“Since then, Stefanos has progressed. So may the best win!”, Added Djokovic a few minutes after dominating, Friday in the semi-finals, and despite a left thigh still largely bandaged, the American Tommy Paul (35th) 7- 5, 6-1, 6-2.
“At the end of the first set, I managed to keep my composure (when Paul came back from 5-1 to 5-5, editor’s note) and that was the key. Then I let my shots go better”, analyzed Djokovic.
Without mentioning his thigh, he launched to be “110%” regarding his energy level. A joke quickly stale: “Obviously, I’m not as fresh as at the start, but I worked a lot on my physique in the off-season”, he underlined.
– Experience –
In addition, “I know what it’s like to play in five sets, I have experience of it”, recalled the man with 21 Grand Slam titles who will aim for a 10th title in Melbourne in as many finals on Sunday. .
That said, this year, he gave up only one set to reach the final, in the second round against the modest Frenchman Enzo Couacaud (191st) on whom he had inflicted a 6-0 in the last set.
And only his matches in the second and third rounds, those where the thigh hurt him the most, lasted more than 2 hours and 20 minutes.
So his problem on Sunday against Tsitsipas may not be so much energy as the pain in his thigh which more or less handicaps him.
Especially since the Greek will be an opponent of a completely different caliber than the previous six, even if among them was the world No.6 and terrible Russian striker Andrey Rublev, swept away in 2:03 in the quarters.
Tsitsipas, at 24, indeed proclaims loud and clear that he is a “new player” and does not hide his ambitions. And above all, he has displayed them on the court since the start of the tournament. Friday, Karen Khachanov (20th), already semi-finalist at the US Open in September, who paid the price.
– Childhood memories –
The Russian took a set from Tsitsipas but lost 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3.
“As a child, I saw Marcos Baghdatis play in the final here and I thought to myself that I too would like to play on these courts one day. So it brings back childhood memories,” savored the Greek in evoking the 2006 final lost by the Cypriot player against Roger Federer.
“I feel blessed to play at this level. I’ve been working for this for years,” he added.
He had already played the semi-finals in Melbourne three times (2019, 2021, 2022) but never made the leap.
Last year, he was beaten in the semi-finals by Daniil Medvedev. This year he becomes the youngest finalist in Melbourne since Novak Djokovic in 2011.
As for the possibility of becoming world N.1 … “I like this figure!”, He launched after reflection.
“These are the moments that I work a lot for. There is more than a victory in these big games. And I am happy that this chance presents itself here” in Melbourne in front of a huge Greek community which supports him loudly.
For the moment, his best ranking is 3rd (in 2021) and his best result on the circuit is to have won the Masters 1000 of Monte-Carlo two years in a row (2021, 2022).
The twelfth day of the Australian Open was also marked by the decision of Srdjan Djokovic not to attend his son’s half so as not to “cause disruption”. The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia had indeed demanded that his accreditation be withdrawn after he was filmed with pro-Russian supporters on Wednesday evening celebrating Novak’s victory in the quarterfinals.
“It was not nice not having him in the box during the semi-final. I hope he will be there for the final,” said the Serbian player.
