Novak Djokovic before semi-final duel with Dominic Thiem: "playing his best tennis"
In the men's semifinals of the French Open 2019, the top 4 on the seed list hit. While Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are dueling for the 39th time, Novak Djokovic has to deal with Dominic Thiem.
by tennisnet
last edit: Jun 07, 2019, 12:03 pm
Should the Serb prevail this Friday and also in the final on Sunday, he would make history with his second personal Grand Slam. In this case, he would be the title holder of all four majors at the same time.
"It's great, it speaks for the quality of the tournament and it's great that the top 4 are in the semi-finals because it brings even more rivalry and importance to these matches," said Djokovic on Thursday after his sovereign victory over Alexander Zverev.
Nadal, on the other hand, could add another chapter to his incredible success story in Paris and fill the dozen Roland Garros titles. It would be 18th overall while Federer is reaching for his second Paris and 21st major singles titles.
Novak Djokovic: "Massu seems to have helped Thiem"
From an Austrian perspective, Thiem would make history with the second single title for Austria according to Thomas Muster (1995) - and would still be able to do so in the era of the three strongest players of all time.
"Dominic deserves where he stands. Especially on clay, that's where he plays his best tennis. He has great power in his game, especially forehand and serve, and the backhand has also improved," said Djokovic. "It also seems that working with Massu has helped him a lot, mentally as well." But if Thiem continues to play like this, not just on sand, but everywhere, then you will see the Lower Austrian more often in the decisive phases of tournaments.
In head-to-head with Thiem Djokovic leads with 6-2 wins, on sand the balance is 3-2. At the French Open, the two players have met twice so far, each celebrating a three-set victory.