Golden boy Zverev against Grand Slam King Djokovic: The match everyone in New York has been waiting for
The eagerly awaited semifinals between Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic are coming up: Can "Sascha" also win against Djoker on the big stage?
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Sep 09, 2021, 07:59 pm
When Novak Djokovic marched into the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on February 8, 2021, he was still very far from the biggest goal in the tennis world. Djokovic played against the French Jeremy Chardy that day, he won in three clear sets, he irresistibly continued his triumph at the Australian Open afterwards, in the quarter-finals he also beat a certain Alexander Zverev, after all, he triumphed in his oasis for the ninth time .
Since then, Djokovic has been unstoppable, beating opponents of all skill levels and ages in the majors, in Paris he defeated three top ten rivals in the last French Open meters, in the semifinals also Matador Rafael Nadal. Even Wimbledon in the summer only seemed like a gateway to the magical coup, winning all four majors in one season, the so-called calendar grand slam. He only delivered two sets in his victorious run on Church Road, the third station was done, the third cup success in a row.
Djokovic on Zverev: "There are no secrets"
The toughest Grand Slam days could still only lie ahead of the 34-year-old leader of the tennis scene - because when Djokovic enters the largest stadium of the traveling circus in the “Night Session” on Friday evening, he is faced with a man who is one of the few who made it has inflicted a painful defeat on the world number one in this otherwise outstanding season at the Tokyo Olympics.
Novak Djokovic against Alexander Zverev (24), Grand Slam King against Golden Boy - it's the semi-final match that everyone has been waiting for at these Open American Championships since the tournament draw two weeks ago. “I suspected that we would meet again here. Sascha is now always one of those players who fight for the title, "says Djokovic," there are no secrets, everyone knows the other exactly. "What matters in the 27th Grand Slam duel of the season, possibly on the penultimate stage To march through all majors, Djokovic knows only too well: "Have your nerves under control, play the few few points that decide everything."
Grand Slam? Djokovic with a historic chance
No player in modern tennis has ever been in Djokovic's position, none of the stars and superstars were only two victories away from the real Grand Slam - no Borg, no McEnroe, no Lendl, no Sampras, no Becker. And also not Federer or Nadal, Djokovic's eternal adversary for the past decade and a half. The Swiss maestro and the Spanish fighting machine are just injured again, from what feels like early retirement they can only watch as Djokovic attacks and trumps their record marks.
Djokovic could not only complete the rendezvous with eternity in New York, survive 28 Grand Slam matches in one season without damage. He could also take the lead in the giant battle of the Big Three for the first time, with 21 Grand Slam titles in front of Federer and Nadal with 20. "I'm prepared for huge challenges at the end," says Djokovic before the duel with Zverev, "if you you have such big goals as I do, you know: It will be brutally difficult, logically, especially in the final matches. "
Zverev wants to drive out demons from 2020
Last year Djokovic and Zverev would normally have met at the US Open in the semifinals. However, nothing was normal at that tournament, at the ghost games at the Billie Jean King Center, which experienced their memorable scandal when Djokovic was disqualified in the round of 16 for the ball attack on a line judge. Zverev advanced to the final, was only two points away from triumph and last but not least experienced the bitterest moment of his career when he gave away the victory he believed to be safe to buddy Dominic Thiem. To this day he thinks back to this tournament “almost every day”, says Zverev.
In the meantime, however, completely different memories are superimposed on Zverev's work in the tennis business. Zverev's gold mission in Tokyo seemed like a breakthrough moment in a career that was not always easy, Djokovic's only weighty defeat of the season in the Olympic semifinals was at the same time the platform for Zverev's victory and for entering a new tennis world. "He has become a different player since then," says expert Boris Becker, "he took the burden of not being able to get the really big wins off his shoulder." Masters victory in Cincinnati "impressively" proved, according to Becker: "He showed: I don't want to give up, tournament victories only lead to me."
Djokovic didn't always look stable in the last week and a half in New York. He messed with God and the world in his matches, let himself be provoked by fans. He lost the opening set three times in his matches, including in the quarter-finals against the Italian Matteo Berrettini - but in the Grand Slam mode over three sets of wins, the "Djoker" still seems to be able to give the center court action a spin . “You need nothing less than the perfect match against him,” says Zverev, “few mistakes. Courage. Determination. Own dominance. ”Everything he showed in his biggest career hour in Tokyo in the final sprint against Djokovic, on the way to gold.
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