When Novak Djokovic revealed that he had undergone knee surgery on June 5 after tearing his meniscus at the French Open, most of the players heading to Wimbledon probably breathed a sigh of relief; there’s no doubt that this A chance for them to show off their skills without having to worry about running into the seven-time champions. When they saw him coming into practice with a brace on his right knee, maybe they thought, great for him, he’s trying, but he’s not going to be competitive so soon after surgery. They — and others — should know better.
Just five weeks after his injury, the 37-year-old Djokovic reached his tenth Wimbledon final and a record 37th Grand Slam final. He got a revenge in a repeat of last year’s final against Carlos Alcaraz, defeating brave Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4 The opportunity is also a chance to tie Roger Federer for eighth place. He won Wimbledon and took the lead in the history of men’s and women’s Grand Slam rankings with 25 games.
During his last game, Djokovic accused the crowd of disrespecting him, saying they were supporting his opponent Holger Rooney and booing him under the guise of “Ruuune”. This time, as he celebrated by twirling his racquet and imitating playing the violin, the scattered boos seemed more in jest and were, in any case, drowned out by the huge cheers.
Speaking about his achievement, Djokovic told a story he has repeated many times, about a young boy in Serbia who watched NATO bombs fly over his head while dreaming of playing and winning Wimbledon. “It’s been an incredible journey,” he said. “Every time I step on the court, I try not to take it for granted. Coming to London about eight days before the game, I didn’t know if I was going to play. I kept it open until the day of the draw. I was there before the game. Having said that, if I didn’t feel like I had a chance to go further in the competition, I probably wouldn’t have competed. Obviously I’m very, very satisfied and very happy to be in the final again, but I don’t want to stop there and hopefully I can get it on Sunday. to the trophy.
The 22-year-old Musetti performed well in his first Grand Slam semifinal. He only made 22 unforced errors, and his backhand slice was also very beautiful. Sadly, he never looked like a winner either, with Djokovic smothering his serve with incredible returns that put him under pressure in almost every service game. While Musetti worked around the issue and hit some great shots, he never got a big enough lead at the set to seriously impact the Serbian’s game.
If Djokovic’s movements were a bit shaky in the early rounds, he seemed to be firing on all cylinders now, although the brace on his right knee remains. While he was aggressive throughout, trying to keep the scoring short — he found the net 56 times and won 43 of his possessions — he was also chasing, gliding, charging, and gliding around the court when Musetti came at him. He either answers or bides his time until he can strike back. It’s a ruthless, brutal, efficient performance.
In the first set, Djokovic led 5-2 in a fierce match, but was broken again after two games. Musetti’s lob failed to hit, and the Serbian secured the victory in the third set. The Italian, who pushed Djokovic to five sets at the French Open in June, gave himself hope when he broke serve in the first game of the second set. In the fourth game, he hit a backhand winner while running off the tram line, earning applause from Djokovic himself and leading 3-1.
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But Djokovic is used to these situations in the game, moments when opponents hit unexpected high points. He waits, he pounces, he fights back. In the sixth game, Musetti saved a set point and pushed the score to a tiebreaker, but Djokovic still led 3-0 and eventually won the game 7-2.
In his previous 285 best-of-five-set matches, Djokovic lost to Austria’s Jürgen Melzer at the 2010 French Open when he won the first two sets. Will happen again. He broke in the first game of the third set, and although Musetti saved three match points at 3-5, 0-40 and even earned a break point in the following game, a missed forehand cost him Paid a heavy price. After two points, the game is over.
