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Djokovic Records 100th Grass-Court Match Win, Reaches Wimbledon Semi-finals

  • Posted: Jul 07, 2021

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic continued his serene progress through The Championships draw on Wednesday by recording the 100th grass-court win of his career (100-18) for a place in the Wimbledon semi-finals.

The Serbian superstar, who is seeking to capture a 20th Grand Slam crown and draw level with all-time leaders Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, got off to a fast start against Marton Fucsovics of Hungary on Centre Court, but ultimately needed to work his way to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over two hours and 17 minutes.

“It was a solid performance and I started off really well, particularly in the first five games of the set,” said Djokovic. “One break of serve in the second and third sets was enough today and I’d like to give credit to Marton for fighting so hard.”

Djokovic has now won 32 of 35 matches this season, which includes securing the first two major trophies of the year at the Australian Open (d. Medvedev) and at Roland Garros (d. Tsitsipas). He also lifted the Belgrade Open crown (d. Molcan) prior to the clay-court major in Paris.

The 34-year-old will continue his quest to become the fifth man in the sport’s history to win the first three Grand Slam of the year — after Jack Crawford (1933), Don Budge (1938), Lew Hoad (1956) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) — in his 10th Wimbledon semi-final on Friday.

Djokovic, a five-time Wimbledon champion, will challenge Canadian 10th seed Denis Shapovalov or 25th seed Karen Khachanov of Russia. He leads Khachanov 4-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, including a straight sets win in the 2018 fourth round at the All England Club, and is 6-0 lifetime against Shapovalov.

Most Wimbledon Semi-final Appearances (All-Time)

Player No. of Appearances
1) Roger Federer (SUI) 13
2) Jimmy Connors (USA) 11
3) Novak Djokovic (SRB) 10
4=) Boris Becker (GER) 9
Arthur Gore (GBR) 9
Herbert Lawford (GBR) 9

The contest, as a competitive spectacle, truly began once Djokovic had won the first five games for the loss of just seven points. Fucsovics looked like a dear in headlights in the first 18 minutes, but with improved groundstroke length, the Hungarian, in his first Grand Slam quarter-final, started to press Djokovic. Soon 5-0 became 5-3, before Djokovic converted his sixth set point to end the 42-minute passage of play.

Fucsovics saved four break points in the first game of the second set, his return game improved — founded on his rock-solid backhand — but the 29-year-old was unable to make inroads in Djokovic’s service games. At 4-4, the pressure began to tell and Djokovic broke clear after Fucsovics made a backhand error.

From 3-4 down in the second set, Djokovic won five straight games, including a recovery from 0/40 — and four break points in total — at 1-0 in the third set. He closed out his third straight victory over Fucsovics with a hold to 15, having hit 23 winners in total.

World No. 48 Fucsovics had beaten 19th seed Jannik Sinner of Italy, Czech Jiri Vesely, ninth-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman and fifth seed Andrey Rublev of Russia en route to his first Grand Slam quarter-final.

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Preview: Federer v Hurkacz, Berrettini v Felix

  • Posted: Jul 06, 2021

Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer has made a career of defying expectations and beating the odds. The 39-year-old has proven he still has what it takes after becoming the oldest Wimbledon quarter-finalist in the Open Era – now, he’ll have to draw from long experience to keep his run going on Wednesday. 

Federer anchors the bottom half of the draw at SW19, with seventh seed Matteo Berrettini, 14th seed Hubert Hurkacz and 16th Felix Auger-Aliassime all in uncharted territory as they vie for their first Wimbledon semi-final berth.

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Sixth seed Federer, who is eyeing his 13th appearance in the last four, will be facing a player who idolised him as a child when he meets Hurkacz. The 24-year-old from Poland grew up practising gymnastics, basketball and football as well as tennis, but settled on tennis after watching the Swiss superstar.

[TENNIS POINT]

“Obviously Roger is a special player. What he’s achieved throughout his whole career, it’s unbelievable. The way he plays is also special… He was big inspiration for me,” Hurkacz said after his fourth-round upset over Daniil Medvedev. “Being out there playing quarter-finals against him, it’s really amazing. But obviously I’m out there to play my best and give myself best chance of winning the match.”

It’s an increasingly familiar position for 39-year-old Federer, who is bidding to become the oldest man to reach the semi-finals at a Grand Slam since Ken Rosewall at the 1977 Australian Open, aged 42. A few weeks ago in Halle, 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime named Federer his ‘idol’ before taking him down in a second-round upset.

The Canadian, who faces seventh seed Berrettini, looms in his section as a potential semi-final opponent. But Federer won’t be the same player who struggled to string wins together in the buildup to Wimbledon, his fifth tournament of the season as he continues to make his way back from knee surgeries.

Federer has raised his level round by round after dodging an early test from Adrian Mannarino, who retired in the fourth set in the first round. He has raced past Richard Gasquet and taken down 29th seed Cameron Norrie and 23rd seed Lorenzo Sonego to reach his first quarter-final since the 2020 Australian Open.

“It’s nice to see that the work I put in paid off, that I’m able to play at this level with best-of-five sets. Playing five days in a row is different than playing best-of-five sets every second day,” Federer said.

“All that stuff, when you’re young, you don’t ask yourself the question. But when you’re me, with the year I had, it’s all question marks all over the place. You have to prove it again to yourself that you can actually do it.” 

The winner of Federer and Hurkacz will take on an in-form player in either seventh seed Berrettini or 16th seed Auger-Aliassime, who will have to put their friendship aside in order to reach their first Wimbledon semi-final. 

Berrettini and Auger-Aliassime, whose girlfriends Ajla Tomljanovic and Nina are cousins, are often spotted hanging out together off the tennis court. They’ve had dinner together and watched the Euros while in the bubble this fortnight, but when they hit the court it will be all business. 

“We’re able to make the difference between what happens on the court and off the court,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Matteo is a good friend, first of all. I can chat with him, have dinner with him. Of course, when the day of the match comes, then you focus on what you have to do. You try to play your best tennis and win.”

 

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Auger-Aliassime is one of two Canadians into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, and he’s bidding to become the youngest man to reach the last four at Wimbledon since Djokovic (20 years 47 days) in 2007. After navigating past a tricky section that included Nick Kyrgios (retirement), the 16th seed recorded a statement win over fourth seed Alexander Zverev in five sets to advance to this stage at a Grand Slam for the first time. 

Berrettini will come into the matchup with the edge in experience, having been to the semi-finals at the US Open in 2019 (l. to Nadal), as well as the lead in their ATP Head2Head. The Italian claimed a hard-fought victory in their only previous meeting in the Stuttgart 2019 final, but he had to play “one of the best matches I ever played on grass” to achieve it. 

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“I feel I am playing for sure the best tennis of my career. [In] 2019 I was playing good, but everything was kind of new. I had to adjust a little bit,” Berrettini reflected after his fourth-round win over Ilya Ivashka. “Now I have more confidence for sure, more experience as well. I know I can achieve my best results like I’m doing quarters in Paris, quarters here. Obviously the tournament is not done yet. I’m really looking forward to achieving even more.”

Since their 2019 meeting, Berrettini and Auger-Aliassime have continued their upward trajectory. The seventh seed came into SW19 after winning titles at the Serbia Open and The Queen’s Club, his first ATP 500 triumph. Auger-Aliassime returned to the Stuttgart final this year, the eighth final of his career (0-8).

Potential Wimbledon Semi-final ATP Head2Heads (bottom half):
Federer trails Auger-Aliassime 0-1
Federer leads Berrettini 2-0

Hurkacz leads Berrettini 1-0
Hurkacz trails Auger-Aliassime 0-2

Did You Know?
Of the eight players to reach the men’s singles quarter-finals here, six are contesting their first Wimbledon quarter-finals – equalling the Open Era record for most first-time men’s singles quarter-finalists at Wimbledon (also 1991 and 2002).

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Preview: Djokovic v Fucsovics, Shapo v Khachanov

  • Posted: Jul 06, 2021

Entering the final stages of a Grand Slam in 2021, once again the biggest question is: Who can stop World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in his quest to rewrite the tennis record books? After conquering the Australian Open and Roland Garros, Djokovic is eyeing a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title as he heads into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

The two-time defending champion, who will next face the unseeded Marton Fucsovics, leads a section of first-time Wimbledon quarter-finalists that includes Karen Khachanov and Denis Shapovalov.

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It is easy to get caught up in the figures and statistics of the monumental feat Djokovic is attempting to achieve at the All England Club: after winning the Australian Open and Roland Garros, he is half way to a calendar-year Grand Slam, something only Rod Laver (1969) has ever achieved in the Open Era. 

[TENNIS POINT]

He could also be set for a record-breaking finish as year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. And if he wins his third consecutive Wimbledon title, he’ll be only the fourth player to do so after Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras. 

“You always enjoy obviously hearing those stats. It’s a privilege to break records in the sport that I truly love,” Djokovic said after his win over Cristian Garin, which put him into his 50th Grand Slam quarter-final. “I’m devoted to this sport as much as I think anybody out there on the tour. I just try to do my best. I am aware that there are many records on the line. They do inspire me to play my best tennis.”

Djokovic admitted earlier in the fortnight that this wasn’t always the case. He recalled the mental fatigue and a ‘deflated’ feeling that affected his previous race for the calendar-year Grand Slam in 2016, which ended in a third-round defeat at Wimbledon at the hands of Sam Querrey. But now, with the benefit of years of experience in breaking records and rewriting the tennis history books, a calmer and more-centered Djokovic is determined to block out the noise and focus on the task at hand. 

“If I start, you know, giving away my attention and energy to these speculations and discussions and debates, I feel like it’s going to derail me from what I feel is the priority at this moment for me: [to] take it step by step, day by day, stick to stuff that makes me feel good, that make me feel comfortable, confident, [and] that makes me prepare the best that I possibly can be prepared for the final stages of Grand Slams,” he said. “It’s not a secret that I am trying to win as many Slams as possible. I went for the historic [weeks at] No. 1 [record]. I managed to achieve that milestone.” 

By all accounts he is succeeding. Djokovic has dropped only one set in the tournament, in the first round against wild card Jack Draper. He has only lost his serve three times in the tournament: once against Draper and twice against American Denis Kudla. He comfortably cruised past 2018 finalist Kevin Anderson and 17th seed Garin to reach the last eight.

 

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A post shared by Novak Djokovic (@djokernole)

Djokovic’s next hurdle will be Hungary’s Fucsovics, the only unseeded man through to the last eight. He leads Fucsovics 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head, with both of their meetings taking place on hard courts. 

Read More: The Ironman Of Tennis: Why Fucsovics Is The Sport’s Most Underrated Player

Fucsovics, currently No. 48 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, had to go about things the hard way to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon. He came back from a set down to overcome 19th seed Jannik Sinner in the first round 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3, and then halted a late comeback effort against Diego Schwartzman to see off the ninth seed in four sets. He earned a sweet-revenge win over Andrey Rublev, the fifth seed and a player who has haunted his draws in 2021, in five sets before booking a meeting with the World No. 1.

“Against Novak, against the top guys, you cannot tell the winning strategy,” Fucsovics said. “I will go out there and try to enjoy every moment, fight for every point. That will be most important… This is the first time I reach the quarter-finals in a Grand Slam. Hopefully I get to play on the Centre Court, and I want to enjoy every moment of it.”

 

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The winner will take on either 10th seed Shapovalov or 25th seed Khachanov, who are both into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time. But it’s been a long time coming for the two players who have been knocking on the door of a major breakthrough and equalled their best Grand Slam result this week. 

Shapovalov has thrived under pressure throughout the fortnight, pulling off one of his biggest wins to oust two-time champion Andy Murray under the lights on Centre Court in the third round. The 2020 US Open quarter-finalist has improved with every week of the grass-court swing, reaching the quarter-finals in Stuttgart (l. to Cilic) and semi-finals at The Queen’s Club (l. to Norrie) before arriving at SW19. 

“I think I’m just a different, different person, different player,” the 22-year-old said. “I knew it was going to be a process on this surface the next couple years to really develop my game on it. Obviously I had great success in the juniors. But it’s a different game in the pros.”

 

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A post shared by Karen Khachanov |Карен Хачанов (@karenkhachanov)

Khachanov, who reached this stage at Roland Garros in 2019, has flown under the radar during a historically strong showing for Russians at Wimbledon. But after Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev fell in the fourth round, only Khachanov has been left standing as the first player from his country to reach a Wimbledon quarter-final since Mikhail Youzhny in 2012.

The 25-year-old has maneuvered past three American opponents after defeating Mackenzie McDonald, Frances Tiafoe – who knocked out Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round – and taking down Sebastian Korda in a five-set rollercoaster. Shapovalov leads their ATP Head2Head 1-0, with the Canadian lefty claiming a victory in their 2019 Davis Cup tie against Russia. 

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“I know what to expect. I will try to get ready. It will be a different trajectory of the balls because he’s lefty,” Khachanov said. “Once you’re in quarter-finals, expectations go even higher. Obviously both of us will try to prepare well, and hopefully it will be a good match and the better player wins.”

Potential Wimbledon Semi-final ATP Head2Head Records (top half):
Djokovic leads Khachanov 4-1
Djokovic leads Shapovalov 6-0

Fucsovics ties Khachanov 1-1
Fucsovics leads Shapovalov 1-0

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Mektic/Pavic First Team To Qualify For 2021 Nitto ATP Finals

  • Posted: Jul 06, 2021

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic have become the first doubles team to qualify for the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals, to be held from 14-21 November at the Pala Alpitour in Turin.

The Croatians booked their spots at the season finale on Tuesday with a 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-4 quarter-final victory over Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot at The Championships, Wimbledon.

Mektic and Pavic have been red hot in 2021, in their first season as a team, winning seven titles and compiling a 46-5 match record.

They have lifted trophies this year at three ATP Masters 1000s — the Miami Open presented by Itau and the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Evans/Skupski both times), plus the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (d. Ram/Salisbury). Mektic and Pavic also won one ATP 500 title at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam (d. Krawietz/Tecau) and three at ATP 250 events — the Antalya Open (d. Dodig/Polasek), Murray River Open in Melbourne (d. Chardy/Martin), Viking International Eastbourne (d. Ram/Salisbury).

Mektic and Pavic also finished as runners up at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Granollers/Zeballos) and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (l. to Cabal/Farah).

Individually, Mektic has competed at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2018 (w/Peya) and last year the 32-year-old clinched the trophy with Wesley Koolhof at The O2 in London (d. Melzer/Roger-Vasselin). Pavic, 28, has qualified on three previous occasions, featuring in the round-robin stages in 2017-18 (w/Marach) and 2020 (w/Soares).

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