Officially, the semi-final between Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic begins on Friday at 2:30 p.m. local time (4:30 a.m. in Germany) – in reality, it has been going on for almost two weeks: It started on the Friday evening before the start of the Australian Open, i.e. on January 10th. Zverev stood in for the injured Nick Kyrgios at the “A Night with Novak and Friends” charity ball push, and the two played a fun set. Zverev immediately took Djokovic’s serve, which he commented on in an interview during the game: “What he’s doing looks good: good serve, and he already has a break. But: We have only just begun.”
Did Djokovic, the mental master of this sport, really only mean this game – or did he actually think further? The Australian Open, which he has already won ten times, is his tournament. Here he has the best chance of winning his 25th Grand Slam title, which would make him the sole best ahead of Australia’s Margaret Court (24 Grand Slam titles).
This charity game and its result (8:6 in the tiebreak for Djokovic) were nothing; but maybe not. Anyone who has watched Djokovic a bit in the last two weeks will have realized that nothing is a trivial matter for the Serb, even if it is just a disrespectful statement from a lower-ranking TV reporter: He had called Djokovic “scooped up” and “overestimated”. ; The Serb therefore refused the usual interview on the square, and even the Serbian embassy got involved.
What would have been enough to refute the reporter’s statements: the semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic proved that he is neither worn out nor overrated: he showed that even the best tennis player in history can add a few percent to his skills. Not because of that that he won the game, but How he did it. He injured his thigh in the first set; and Alcaraz, who was already in top form, knew how to take advantage of this: he sprinkled in stops and made Djokovic suffer physically. What Djokovic did afterwards was a testament to his uniqueness, his form of rope-a-dope, with which Muhammad Ali once became immortal against George Foreman: He changed his game, acted more aggressively and closer to the baseline – which is technically what you do in the first place must be able to. In doing so, he achieved two things: he took away Alcaraz’s tactical means of stopping, and he now let the opponent run more. The risk paid off: Alcaraz was taken aback, and he admitted afterwards that the whole thing had made a mess in his head.
Djokovic and Zverev once talked for hours about space on a flight
It was like Andy Roddick once said: “First he takes your legs, then he takes your soul.” Alcaraz realized that he would not be able to climb this mental Mount Everest even at his physical best.
With Zverev it’s the other way around; Djokovic has been stealing his soul for two weeks. A day after winning the fun duel, he burst into the German’s press conference and asked: “Do you think the answer to how to win a Grand Slam might lie in space?” Hahaha, what fun! In fact, the two of them once talked for hours about the universe on a flight together (Zverev: “I’m a fan of Stephen Hawking, he of other people.”), but of course you can interpret this question differently. The not-so-hidden message: You’re tinkering and tinkering and tinkering in the desperate search for that Grand Slam victory you so long for – and you still haven’t managed it yet! Another small tip, to which Zverev reacted humorously but also a bit annoyed: “What do you want? You will win your 25th Grand Slam title. We will all be happy. Yes, Novak Djokovic, again.” The day before, when asked how he could win this major title, he said to Djokovic: “By doing so you Lets me win one.” Again: funny. But again, the verbal handing out of a dog’s paw to its owner.
Well, before this semi-final, Djokovic said: Yes, of course Zverev is in top form here in Melbourne – but there is this deal: “As long as I play, he will let me win Grand Slam matches.”
Of course, one can dismiss all of these events as irrelevant before such a big game between two great tennis professionals and rather demand an answer to the question: How is Djokovic’s thigh? He didn’t train on Wednesday or Thursday. Can he even compete? How fit will he actually be? Can Zverev use this tactically?
Djokovic keeps the severity of the injury a secret; nothing comes out of his bed; Even our Serbian colleagues are at a loss. The only thing that is certain is that Djokovic does this consciously. He knows: This game is very unlikely to happen physicallybut the mentally Fitter ones win. Who can handle anything that will happen in five possible sentences. Zverev must be prepared for Djokovic to change tactics, possibly several times, and he must be able to react to each one.
What Zverev should keep in mind above all: This game does not start at 2:30 p.m., not when you arrive at the facility and not when you meet Djokovic in the catacombs. It’s been running for a long time.
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