However, in this physical battle, he clearly experienced difficulties, clearly showing how much the heat weighed on him. The statistics confirm his analysis of the quality of the match: Djokovic committed 26 unforced errors for 13 winning points and De Minaur 28 unforced errors for 19 winning points. And, in the second set, of the ten games played, seven ended in breaks: Djokovic kept his faceoff twice and De Minaur only once.
“I suffered, but I’m happy to have passed,” summarized Djokovic who, with this victory, set yet another record: he will play a 77th semi-final in the Masters 1000 on Saturday, one better than Rafael Nadal and eleven better than Roger Federer. He already holds the record for victories (40) and finals (58) in this category of tournaments.
Winner in 2013 and 2015, Djokovic (36 years old) had not since gone beyond the quarter-finals, reached twice (2017, 2019). On Saturday he will face the Norwegian Casper Ruud (10th), finalist at Roland-Garros in 2022 and 2023, and winner in the evening of the Frenchman Ugo Humbert (15th) in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 6-1).
La 25e de Sinner
At the bottom of the table, Jannik Sinner (2nd) was manhandled by Holger Rune (7th), but ended up winning 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3 in 2 hours 40. The match was more physical, there were more long rallies” than in the two previous matches, admitted Sinner, exempt from the first round, assuring that his feelings had been “better” during this quarter. Last year, the Dane beat the Italian in the semi-finals. This time, Sinner confirmed that he was the man in form since the start of 2024 by signing a 25th victory in 26 matches. His next opponent will be Stefanos Tsitsipás (12th) who advances with great confidence in the table.
2024-04-12 17:58:51
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