Declaration of love for Alcaraz
Tennis thriller takes Novak Djokovic’s breath away
08/21/2023 12:22 p.m
Three hard-fought and turbulent sets, almost four hours of play: Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz fought another memorable duel shortly before the US Open. The Serbian superstar only has words of praise for his young challenger from Spain.
At the end of an epic thriller over three breath-taking sentences, Novak Djokovic fell on his back, exhausted, then ripped his shirt off with a primal scream. “There is so much to say, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it,” said the Serb a little later, then he looked at Carlos Alcaraz and added: “You never give up, do you? I love that about you. I hope to see you again in New York. That would be fun – well for the fans, not for me.”
As in Wimbledon five weeks earlier, the audience at the final of the ATP tournament in Cincinnati/Ohio was entranced by the duel between the two best tennis players in the world. It was 5: 7, 7: 6 (9: 7), 7: 6 (7: 4) after 3:49 hours for Djokovic, who fended off a match point in the second set and then only had his fifth chance for his 39th victory could use a Masters. Afterwards he wasn’t sure if it was “one of the hardest” or “the hardest” match “I’ve ever played”.
95th tournament win of career
In the almost stifling heat, the longest three-set final in the history of the ATP tour (since 1990) took a few turns. Alcaraz was 4-2 in the second set, but let Djokovic, who was visibly battered by the conditions, back into the match with a miserable service game. The Spaniard fended off two match points in the eighth and ninth game. He hit the fifth in the tie-break and helped the Grand Slam record champion (23 titles) win the 95th tournament of his career.
In direct duels it is now 2: 2 between Djokovic (36) and Alcaraz (20), the finals in Wimbledon, where Alcaraz won in five sets, and in Cincinnati only seem to be a foretaste of what is to come: The US Open will start on Monday next week (August 28/sportdeutschland.tv). Alcaraz is the defending champion there, last year’s victory was his first in a Grand Slam. Djokovic was not allowed to enter the USA at the time because he did not have a corona vaccination.
Alcaraz saw no reason to mope after the lost dress rehearsal. “I almost beat one of the greatest of all time. I’m proud of myself, really,” he said, adding: “I’ll be back.”