First aggressive, then loving
Emotional Djokovic handles opponents mercilessly
01/25/2023, 1:35 p.m
First he discusses with his coach, then he complains to the referee – and finally Novak Djokovic sings a birthday song for his mother. In the middle of the quarterfinals, the tennis star deals a lot with things outside of the sport – but his opponent still has no chance.
Novak Djokovic suddenly felt like joking and even sang a belated birthday song to his mom. “I couldn’t be happier with my tennis,” said the big title favorite after reaching the semi-finals in Melbourne: “I love playing for myself on such a special place.”
Earlier, Djokovic had shown a very different side at Rod Laver Arena. He complained about a fan, shouted angrily in the direction of his box – and after he had built up the necessary aggressiveness, then mercilessly showed the Russian Andrei Rublev the limits at 6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 4. Djokovic, who is being accompanied by his parents in Australia for the first time in 15 years, is only two steps away from his 22nd Grand Slam title and is probably untouchable in this form.
“You could say I feel a little extra motivation this year,” said Djokovic, alluding to his expulsion last year and his much-discussed hamstring injury. “In the first one and a half sentences, Novak was emotionally attacked today,” said Djokovic’s ex-coach Boris Becker at Eurosport: “But Rublew didn’t have the class.”
As a result, the 35-year-old Serb reached the round of the last four Down Under for the tenth time. Whenever Djokovic climbed that level there, he also secured the title. His 26th consecutive win also equaled Andre Agassi’s record for the longest winning streak at the Yarra River tournament. Rublev, on the other hand, also lost his seventh majors quarterfinal.
Clear favorite in the semifinals
Djokovic, who can draw level with Grand Slam record winner Rafael Nadal from Spain in Australia and has his thigh problems under control, will now meet Tommy Paul in a duel for the final on Friday, who was the first US player in 14 years to reach the semifinals in Melbourne . The 25-year-old from New Jersey won against compatriot Ben Shelton 7: 6 (8: 6), 6: 3, 5: 7, 6: 4. The second semi-final is contested by Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece and Karen Khachanov from Russia.
As a clear outsider, Paul will now throw himself into the almost impossible task against Djokovic. “I play my best tennis, so it’s a good time for it,” he said confidently on Wednesday. Overall, the upswing in US tennis is causing a stir. “Finally, they invest a lot of money from their association,” said Boris Becker at Eurosport. An athlete in the “absolute world class” is still missing.
Belarus duel possible despite sanctions
Andreas Mies can deliver world-class performances in doubles, but had to give up in the quarter-finals. The specialist from Cologne lost alongside the Australian John Peers to the Spanish-Argentinian team Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 2), 2: 6. Nevertheless, Mies took “a lot of positive things” from his first Grand Slam tournament after leaving Kevin Krawietz.
In the women’s singles, meanwhile, there could be a purely Belarusian final. According to Viktoria Azarenka, the semifinals on Thursday (9.30 a.m. at Eurosport and in the ntv.de live ticker) opened against Wimbledon champion Jelena Rybakina from Kazakhstan, Aryna Sabalenka also advanced in a convincing manner with a 6:3, 6:2 against the Croatian Donna Vekic. She now meets Poland’s Magda Linette, who scored with her fighting spirit in the 6-3, 7-5 win over Czech Karolina Pliskova.
“I will do everything for it,” Sabalenka said of the hope of a Belarus duel: “We would make history with that.” Officially, however, both are competing under a neutral flag due to the sanctions against the country for supporting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.