By Tony Fairbairn, Britwatch Sports at Wimbledon
Novak Djokovic determined to return Wimbledon after semi-final defeat to Jannik Sinner
• Jannik Sinner is looking forward to final against Alexander Zverev after toppling Djokovic for second year in a row
• Alexander Zverev has praised in improvement after reaching a second consecutive Grand Slam final.
LONDON, ENGLAND – Novak Djokovic is determined to return to Wimbledon despite being beaten by Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.
Novak Djokovic determined to return Wimbledon despite semi-final ‘blowout’
Our day 12 talking points starts with Novak Djokovic after the Serb was beaten in the semi-finals of Wimbledon.
The Serb suffered a straight sets defeat to defending champion Jannik Sinner on Centre Court.
After the match Djokovic said that it was a ‘blowout’ and didn’t believe that it was more competitive then last year’s semi-final defeat.
“No, not really. Was a good old blowout. Nothing much I could do,” Djokovic started his press conference by saying.
“I just said you’re wrong. I don’t agree with your opinion. I’m always competitive. Always give my best. Under the circumstances sometimes it looks from outside more, sometimes less. Only I know what I go through internally and what it takes to be able to still play at this level. Of course, I’m disappointed. Of course, I wanted to win Wimbledon. That’s the reason why I’m still pushing myself so hard. But I just lost to a better player. I have to accept it. Obviously tough one.
“Once you get out of the court, it’s tough one to kind of accept. But it is what it is. I’m not upset with myself. I don’t think I’ve done too much wrong. I was just a level or two worse than he is. I mean, he was playing so solid from all ends. I mean, serve, very difficult to read his serve, incredible weapon has become last couple years since he changed his technique. Of course, he’s as solid as anyone really from back of the court. That’s it.”
It was a bitterly disappointing defeat for Djokovic especially considering that the Serb beat Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals.
However, Djokovic acknowledged that Sinner was the better player on the day.
“Well, last year I was injured during that match,” Djokovic explained.
“Actually, I got injured in quarters. I didn’t really expect much from myself in that match. But here I was okay, feeling physically fine. Maybe not the freshest, obviously, like at the beginning of the tournament, but I was physically all right. He was much better player on the court and was the dominant force.
“You just have to hand it to him and say, Congrats, well done.”
It was a big effort for Djokovic to just make the semi-finals after his epic five set win against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals.
Djokovic reflected on how that match affected him and said that one of the positives to take from Wimbledon is that he is physically fine after the tournament.
“I mean, I’m proud of what I achieved three nights ago,” Djokovic analysed.
“Felix is number, what, three, fourth player in the world. Proven to myself and others that I can still play at the highest level, and I have. I reached the last four of Wimbledon. Losing in straight sets against the best player in the world, okay. It is what it is. It’s the reality you have to accept. But the tournament was positive in terms of the attitude on the court, the fighting spirit, the dedication. I mean, it’s still there.
“Game-wise I wasn’t extremely happy. Like in Australia, I felt like I played on a higher level overall throughout the tournament than here. Here, yeah, kind of struggled to find that A game. It was kind of appearing in some moments in matches that I had prior to semis. Today I was just unable. I didn’t have time. I didn’t have time to really regroup and reset. He was just at cruising speed and I couldn’t catch him. I mean, great, great. That’s one of the best takeaways, highlights for me, is the fact that I stayed healthy, no injuries, because that wasn’t the case, as I said. Pretty much every big tournament, there was an injury in the last two years.
“So that’s a good thing. It means that the team has done a good job with me. We collectively prepared myself good, well for this tournament.
Yeah, a little bitter taste stays, of course, that I wasn’t at the desired level today. But yeah, we turn the next page and we move on.”
At 39 years of age Djokovic is still loving competing at the highest level as he still wants to compete for the biggest title in the sport.
The Serb reflected on the current state of his career and stated that he wants to come back to Wimbledon for at least one more year.
“Yeah. Last year I reached four semifinals. This year, out of three slams, I reached one final and one semifinal. I guess for 99% of the players, that would be a very good Grand Slam result,” Djokovic observed.
“For me, it’s good but not good enough, because I’m blessed and cursed to be used to something of a highest degree in terms of results and achievements. Yeah, I mean, that’s a good question, because in some way, I’m also dealing with myself in a sense that I’m telling myself, Look, this is amazing that you’re still able to, as people around me are telling me, able to play at such a high level and push the youngsters to the limit for Grand Slam titles, which is true. But at the same time, I always have the highest expectations for myself.
“So yeah, it’s kind of that internal battle really of what I’ve been through for the 20-plus years of my career, what the goals were always, the expectations, and trying to balance it out and really be a little more humble in that sense. Of course, I still enjoy the thrill of competition. Maybe I don’t enjoy all the hard weeks that are leading up to big tournament, putting myself over and over again through a lot of pain, physically mostly.
“I’m glad that this tournament, the body held pretty well. Pretty much every other tournament in the last two years it was always something.
“That’s the main thing. I feel when I’m healthy, I’m still able to play as a top-five player, still able to compete at the highest level. I like it. I like this life. I mean, tennis has given me everything in my life and has allowed me an opportunity to become who I am.
“At the same time, you know, of course there’s always a question how far you want to go, what you want to play, how you want to play, et cetera, et cetera. I go through that process, but I try to take it, in a sense, a day at a time, see how I really feel. I don’t have any pressure or no one is forcing me to play. I do it because I really want to and because I still can. I still can play as a top-10, top-5 player.
“Yeah, let’s see what’s future brings. I would like to, at least one more time. Let’s see.”
‘We all hope for a good match, and then we see how it goes.’
It’s now time to hear from Sinner who is into a second consecutive Wimbledon final after a dominant performance over Djokovic.
The Italian’s title defence goes on as he looks for a fifth Grand Slam title to add to his collection.
After losing in Australia this was sweet revenge for Sinner over Djokovic and the Italian knew he had to step up his level and loves the pressure of playing the seven-time Wimbledon champion.
“Yeah, I think mentally I knew that I need to level up. I’ve done it today. It helped me, for sure,” Sinner claimed during his press conference.
“I worked very hard in the past couple of days having a good rhythm. Also, thanks to my team to put also the body and the mind in the position to be as competitive as possible. Against Novak, if you want to play even, you need to play your best tennis. I came out, was serving very well today, which helped me.
“Things could have gone in a very tough way if he breaks me in the third set, because that’s how tennis is. But I’m happy that I handled the situations as good as I could. Yeah, Novak is so, so tough to play against because you always feel the pressure. You know it’s not easy. But yeah, I’m happy about today’s performance.
“Well, even when I had this small winning streak from last year, you always feel pressure before playing against Novak. But I like it. This is why I practice for. I like challenges. Playing against Novak in Grand Slams, they are very different than playing in maybe Masters events or smaller tournaments, I would say.”
Elaborating on one of the greatest players of all time, Sinner said that Djokovic is a true inspiration for everyone in the sport.
“But yeah, it’s so amazing to see him still producing this kind of level. The match he has played with Felix, I was watching. The level was so high. It’s a true inspiration for all of us and also the younger generation, how much a good mindset can do to your body and mind as well.
“For me, he’s a true inspiration. Seeing him around and having the honor to play against him, feeling the pressure against him, these matches, they hopefully can help me and also in the future. That’s it.
“Every match is different, in a way, has its own story. Depends where we play and how we feel physically. I would not look a lot on head-to-heads. I think every match is different.
“I’m very lucky to play against Novak.”
In the final Sinner will play Alexander Zverev and is expecting a completely different match against the German on Sunday.
“I mean, less exchanges, less rhythm. This we know because of the surface being that fast. Being also quite warm, it’s going to be good for big server. He is definitely a big server,” Zverev explained.
“But in any case, look, I try to do my best on Sunday. It feels good again being back in a Grand Slam final. It’s good for me. I just try to do my best.
Whatever happened in the past between me and him, it happened. In between, he won a Grand Slam in Paris, which gave him a lot of confidence.
“We can see the level he’s producing here. We all hope for a good match, and then we see how it goes.”
Alexander Zverev praises improvement after semi-final win
Finally, it’s time to hear from Zverev who is into his second Grand Slam final in the space of the month after ending Arthur Fery’s Wimbledon dream.
After the match Zverev said he played the complete match and was happy with his performance.
“Well, I think today was a bit of a mix of everything,” Zverev detailed in his press conference.
“I think the first set wasn’t that particularly great. I think the second and third set were really good. But he was a very, very different type of opponent than I had in the fourth round and in the quarterfinals where I had two massive servers, massive hitters. So it took some adjustments.
“Once I found my rhythm, I thought it was a good match. I felt the ball quite well. I don’t know. I’m in a Wimbledon final. I’m just happy about that. I think you have to be playing well to be here.”
There used to be doubts over Zverev could win a Grand Slam but the German silenced those doubts after winning Roland Garros last month.
Zverev said everyone’s journey to the top is different and praised his recent improvement as he has taken his game to the next level.
“I think it’s very individual,” Zverev confessed.
“I think different people, I think Dominic Thiem, in particular, he put his whole life and soul into winning that slam. He came back from two sets to love down against me in the US Open. I think it was such a relief for him that it was maybe a bit too much of a relief mentally. For me, I stay focused. I stay hungry. I want more. I want to continue playing at the best level and continue winning. I hope I’m able to do that, and again on Sunday I have another big chance.
“I think there’s two things to it. I think, yes, one thing, for sure, once you win a major you know how to do it and you feel like you can do it again. You have this feeling inside of you. The second thing, I feel like I worked on my game a lot. I feel like my game has improved. Sometimes in sports it’s as simple as that.
“When you improve your forehand, when you improve your backhand, when you improve your serve, when you improve your return, you’re going to win more matches. It’s sometimes as simple as that. You can talk about mental stuff, you can talk about, I don’t know, certain situations, coaching changes, whatever.
“But if you improve as a player and you make the decision as a player to improve, you’re going to do better in tournaments.”
Now, a blockbuster final against Sinner now awaits.
“Again, I think the serve-return patterns are going to be very, very important. Jannik has won Wimbledon last year.”
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