By Tony Fairbairn At Wimbledon
- Novak Djokovic described the final against Carlos Alcaraz a ‘feast’ after defeating Jannik Sinner
- Carlos Alcaraz says facing Djokovic in a final gives him extra motivation as he defeated Daniil Medvedev
- Daniil Medvedev praises ‘amazing’ Centre Court crowd after defeat
LONDON, ENGLAND – Novak Djokovic is ready to ‘feast’ on a motivated Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final as both players produced clinical performances on day twelve.
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Novak Djokovic ready to ‘feast’ against Alcaraz
Our day twelve talking points start with defending champion Novak Djokovic as he moved into a record-breaking 35th Grand Slam final with a straight sets win over Jannik Sinner. The Italian had forced a third set tiebreak but failed to capitalise on the opportunity presented to him as Djokovic moved into a fifth consecutive final.
Speaking after the match Djokovic praised his shot selection after reaching another Grand Slam final.
“It was a well-fought, straight-set victory. Each set was closer than it appears maybe on the scoreboard,” Djokovic said in his press conference.
“I knew that he is going to try to be aggressive and hit from both forehand and backhand quite flat and fast, so I needed to be really sharp from the beginning, which I think I have. I think I found the right shots at the right time. Serve was kind of going up and down, but I managed to make him play always an extra shot, especially towards the end of the match.
“He basically made some unforced errors to give me the victory in the tiebreak. Also he was two set points up in the third. But that’s tennis, obviously. That pressure point moments, it’s not easy to play the shots that you desire. So it was, of course, great for me that I was able to finish the job in straight sets.”
Djokovic’s clinical tennis has continued to run ragged over the young generation of players as he looks to win a record-breaking eighth Wimbledon title. The Serb admits that despite more history being on the horizon, the feeling isn’t any different to usual.
“To be honest with you, I don’t feel much difference,” Djokovic admitted after the match.
“Ambition is always the highest for me: always to win the title. It’s not changing regardless of the place in history books. Maybe some people think that it would be a huge relief for me winning Roland Garros, being the only men’s tennis player with 23 slams. It’s not. I mean, pressure is there. It’s still very high. I still feel goose bumps and butterflies and nerves coming into every single match.
“So I’m going to be coming into Sunday’s final like it’s my first, to be honest. I don’t want to approach that finals in any more relaxed way than I have previous ones, meaning the intention needs to be clear. Goal and approach will be as serious and professional as it has been always. Not much difference for me there.”
Now Djokovic’s ambitious goals must go through Carlos Alcaraz with history and the world number one ranking on the line. Djokovic previewed the match and said that he’s ready to ‘feast’ as both players are hungry for glory.
“This is probably the most anticipated finals I guess from the beginning of the tournament, from most of the people,” Djokovic explained.
“Alcaraz, myself… It will be his first finals in Wimbledon. He’s so young, but he’s incredibly consistent now, also on grass. Which I don’t think many people expected him to play so well because his game is basically, yeah, built and constructed and developed for clay mostly or slower hard courts. But he’s been incredibly successful in adapting to the surfaces and demands and challenges of opponents on a given day.
“We’re both playing well. I guess I want to take this title without a doubt. I look forward to it. It’s going to be a great challenge, greatest challenge that I could have at the moment from any angle really: physical, mental, emotional He’s one of the quickest guys on the tour. He can do pretty much anything on the court. I consider myself also very complete player.
“We had a very good match until he started struggling physically in Paris. I think we really took the level of tennis very high. I think was great for the audience and great for us players to be part of that. Obviously completely different conditions here. Grass is massively different from clay. Yes, I do have more experience playing in many more Grand Slam or Wimbledon finals than him.
“Still he’s in great shape. He’s very motivated. He’s young. He’s hungry. I’m hungry, too, so let’s have a feast.”
Alcaraz motivated ahead of final
Speaking of Alcaraz the Spaniard defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets to set up the dream final. It was a first class performance from Alcaraz as he reached his maiden Wimbledon final and his second Grand Slam final.
Ahead of Sunday’s clash Alcaraz said he’s more motivated now that he’s facing Djokovic in the final.
“Well, gives you extra motivation,” Alcaraz responded when asked about facing Djokovic on Sunday.
“I think it’s more special to play final against a legend from our sport. Well, if I win, it could be amazing for me – not only win a Wimbledon title but do it against Novak would be super special. But I always say if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. Novak is one of them. Would be great if I’ll do it.”
There would nothing more special for Alcaraz then to beat Djokovic in the final in Wimbledon, an event the Serb rarely ever loses. Especially given what happened in Paris where the Spaniard cramped up during his defeat to Djokovic.
Previewing the final, Alcaraz said he will try to do some things differently from a psychological perspective.
“Well, physically I’ll do it the same, what I was doing before the matches,” Alcaraz said.
“Probably in the mental part I will do something different, to stay calm, to show that I’m not nervous. Some exercise in the mental part. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’ll do some exercise to stay calm and to forget – or I’ll try to forget that I’m going to play a final against Novak.”
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Medvedev hails ‘amazing’ Centre Court crowd
It wasn’t to be for Medvedev as he was well and truly beaten in the last four by Alcaraz, only winning nine games. However it was a run for Medvedev to be proud of as he reached his first Wimbledon semi-final and after the match the former US Open reflected on his run at SW19 as well as praising the Centre Court crowd.
“Amazing. Amazing. Even today, as I said throughout the two weeks, they were going for the underdog,” Medvedev said.
“It was amazing to be back at Wimbledon. I hope I can come back here many, many more years and try to improve the result. That’s what I managed to do this year. I’m going to try even harder next few years. As I say, it’s been absolutely amazing. Not only during the matches on the court.
“Generally, if I saw anyone in the city, if anyone saw me in the city, or in the cafes or stuff like this, it was a great, great atmosphere. Really grateful. Will be happy to come back to England many more times.
“I don’t know yet how right now because in a way, before the tournament… I would say like this – how can we say it – if one would ask me, Are you happy with the semifinal? I’m like yes and no. For sure if I’m in the semifinal, I want to win it. I want to play against Novak on Sunday. I want to try to hold the trophy.
“But it’s my best Wimbledon so far. Normally on grass I didn’t feel amazing. These two weeks I felt great. I’m trying usually after the losses to find the positives. I was in four best players of the tournament, together with amazing players: Jannik, Novak, and Carlos. Actually, I don’t think in a way after the big three started to get a little bit injured and stuff, we got a lot of slams where top three were in the semis. Usually you have upsets and stuff like this.
“It’s great to prove that again and again I can be in the deepest stages of the biggest tournaments. But I will be disappointed with the loss. The only thing I can say to myself is next time, try better. Try to win a slam next time. Try to beat Alcaraz or whoever else next time. That’s the only way till you finish your career.”
Sinner looks for improvement after defeat
A similar fate awaited Sinner today as he couldn’t replicate his five set performance from last year against Djokovic. Like Medvedev though, there are positives to take from the tournament as he reached a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time.
Speaking after the match Sinner looked for the positives but admitted improvement is needed for the future.
“I’m trying to play in these situations more often. I knew before the match already that it’s a tough match today, but that’s why I practice for,” Sinner claimed.
“I felt like I was ready. I went with the right mentality on the court. I had a belief to win this match. I am not afraid to play these kind of matches, no? First semifinal is never easy to play. I felt like, as I said before, my level was good. I was just, especially in the pressure points, I messed it up a little bit. But it’s trying to take out the positives and looking forward.
“It’s for sure tough day, but I’m going to learn about this and hopefully I can improve.”
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