Saturday September 11th 2021
Djokovic before the mega-triumph
Strong Zverev is amazed and desperate
By Heiko Oldbod, Boston
Alexander Zverev plays a very strong semi-final at the US Open. Nevertheless, he fails after a spectacular five sets to Novak Djokovic. Because the world number one from Serbia is mentally particularly strong again at the crucial moment.
He ran both hands through his hair as he walked through the catacombs. The dark t-shirt is soaked in sweat from the memorable 3:33 hour match that has just ended, head bowed. Alexander Zverev knew that this semi-final against Novak Djokovic should not have been his last tournament game at the US Open in New York. “It was a good match. I think we both gave everything, neither gave the other anything. And it could have turned out the other way round,” said the 24-year-old around midnight in the large interview room of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
That Zverev went 6: 4, 2: 6, 4: 6, 6: 4, 2: 6 as a loser from the sold out Arthur Ashe Stadium despite a strong and courageous performance, well, that was of course mainly due to the man who opposite him: Novak Djokovic. The Serbian industry leader hadn’t looked as convincing as usual in the previous five rounds of this tournament. He even made four sentences. And he had to spend around four and a half hours longer on the pitch on the way to this semi-final than Zverev, who had reached the semifinals with five sovereign victories.
Zverev: “Djokovic a deserved finalist”
In addition, the man from Hamburg had only defeated Belgrade in three sets in the semifinals of the Olympic tournament a few weeks ago and then won gold. It therefore didn’t sound too presumptuous to give Zverev a chance to make another final in Flushing Meadows. It would be difficult to get back to the final, but he wanted to go there, Zverev had said while walking out into the arena, ESPN reporter Patrick McEnroe. Almost three and a half hours later, however, the German realized that Djokovic was a deserved finalist. “When it comes down to it, he plays the best tennis he has to play. Others can’t, that’s why he’s number one in the world – and he showed that today.”
That may sound a little helpless, but it still sums up the crucial fifth sentence perfectly. Zverev had just won the fourth round, equalized 2-2 after sets. And he knew, like everyone else in the stadium, that the moment had come when not only serve, return, forehand and backhand are important, but also that part of the body that has decided so many matches in tennis – the Head.
When the enemy becomes a wall
And it is mental strength that so often makes the difference between a Novak Djokovic and all other tennis professionals. The moment when the will, determination and willingness to absolutely want to get the points are simply greater in the Serbs. Even if high-class opponents like Zverev want to achieve this just as badly. “In the most important moments it suddenly turns against the wall and you can’t get through. I can still play aggressively, at the end of the day he always knows where I’m going,” said Zverev, describing the last round.
After losing his own service, he was quickly 3-0 behind and even allowed a second break with a simple ball into Aus Djokovic. Zverev looked helplessly into the TV cameras after his momentous faux pas, while his counterpart opened his mouth wide and clenched both fists. “Just incredibly unhappy” was the scene, said Zverev. After Djokovic then performed his service, the German was hopelessly 0: 5 behind. It looked like a marathon runner faced a sprinter for the last 400 meters of the race. Djokovic went unstoppable, Zverev had no chance.
“Hurricane Full of Emotions”
When asked about his mental strength, Djokovic said that at these moments a “hurricane full of emotions” was playing out in his head. Tennis, according to the 34-year-old, is “a wonderful sport, but also a very demanding one”. You have to keep body and soul in harmony. And for years he had found a formula that worked for him, said Djokovic.
Alexander Zverev has also grown mentally. The final at the US Open last year, the Olympic victory in Tokyo, the subsequent triumph at the Masters tournament in Cincinnati – all of this made him even more confident. Djokovic calls the German “a great champion” whom he admires on and off the pitch. “Zverev can keep up in the long rallies,” praised John McEnroe as an expert on the ESPN microphone.
Longest rally of the tournament
And it was also Zverev who won the rally of the game with a score of 4: 5, 15:40 in the third set. Both opponents had played the yellow felt ball over the net 53 times. The audience got louder the longer it went back and forth. Zverev finally made the point with a forehand strike. ESPN commentators pointed out that it was the longest rally in the tournament. “Zverev played well for most of the match, but it just wasn’t enough,” said John McEnroe, summing up Zverev’s first defeat after 16 wins in a row.
Djokovic, on the other hand, has expanded his impressive record and also won his 27th Grand Slam match this year. Should he triumph in the final on Sunday against the Russian Daniil Medvedev after the finals of the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, he would have been the first professional since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four of the most important tournaments of the year. “I’ll throw my heart, soul and body into this next match and approach it like it’s the last of my career,” he announced. If he won, he would be the most successful professional in tennis history with 21 Grand Slam victories. Alexander Zverev keeps his fingers crossed for him. “I’m also a sports fan and a tennis fan. And what we will hopefully see on Sunday is history.”
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