Djokovic Flicks Backhand Hot Shot At Rome 2017
Djokovic Flicks Backhand Hot Shot At Rome 2017
May202017
Serbian to play Zverev in championship match
Second seed Novak Djokovic put in a flawless performance on Saturday night for his second win of the day at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, ruthlessly dispatching eighth seed Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-0 to reach the final in just 59 minutes.
The Serbian finished off a rain-delayed quarter-final earlier in the day over Juan Martin del Potro. Djokovic is through to his first ATP World Tour final since winning his opening tournament of the season in Doha (d. Murray). He remains unbeaten in Rome semi-finals (8-0) and improves to 41-6 at this event as he moves within one match of his fifth Rome title.
“This is undoubtedly my best performance of this year and maybe even longer. I’m overjoyed and happy with every minute that I spent on the court today. It was a perfect match. Everything that I intended to do, I have done it and even more,” said Djokovic. “There’s not much to say except that I am so grateful to experience something like this, because I have been waiting and working for it for a long time.”
Awaiting Djokovic in the final is 16th seed and #NextGenATP German Alexander Zverev, who defeated John Isner. Djokovic will look to win his 31st ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, while Zverev is competing in his first Masters 1000 final. The Rome final marks their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.
“He’s a nice guy and someone that I like. I have seen him grow up. I know his older brother. It’s amazing to see 10, 12 years ago, when he was only a boy going around with his racquet, and now we are going to play in the final of one of the biggest events in the world,” said Djokovic. “It’s a great beginning of his professional career he has had so far and he deserves to be in the final, but I’m going to make sure he doesn’t get his hands on that trophy tomorrow. I’ll at least try.”
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Djokovic finished the day with 14 winners to a tidy six unforced errors. In stark contrast, the normally consistent Thiem hit 17 unforced errors to eight winners. The serve stats are perhaps the most telling, with Thiem winning just 13 of 37 points on serve. Djokovic won nearly 75 per cent of his serve points (31/43).
Despite the loss, Thiem has plenty of positives to take from his clay-court season so far. The 23-year-old Austrian produced a brilliant performance on Friday to defeat Rafael Nadal and end the Spaniard’s unbeaten streak on clay this season at 17 matches.Thiem has continued to make it to the weekend at clay-court events in 2017, winning in Rio de Janeiro (d. Carreno Busta) and finishing runner-up at Barcelona and Madrid (both l. Nadal) before his semi-final finish this week.
“It was the first time for me to play at such a high level for three weeks or more, and today I paid the price for that a little bit,” said Thiem. “I was already a little bit tired in the end of the match against Sam Querrey. I surprised myself by how I went out yesterday, but also knew it’s not going to be like that forever.”
Djokovic started the opening set with a break of serve and a primal yell for a 2-0 lead. The backhands that Thiem painted the lines with against Nadal found themselves consistently landing just wide. The Austrian was unable to get any traction on his forehand, failing to hit a single winner on that wing in the set as Djokovic continued to move him from side to side. Thiem avoided a bagel by holding at 0-5, but Djokovic comfortably grabbed the early lead in the next game.
The second set was nearly identical to the first set as Djokovic continued to bully Thiem in the baseline rallies. The crowd urged Thiem on with applause and by chanting his name, but the Serbian gave them little chance to get involved. Djokovic broke Thiem for the third consecutive time to lead 5-0 and a strong serve on his first match point swiftly wrapped up the contest.
“It’s really tough for me to play against Novak because he doesn’t give me any time. I don’t really like to play against him, because he has a game style which doesn’t fit me at all,” said Thiem. “He was there from the first point and was pushing himself. I was expecting that from him, but couldn’t really do anything against it because I was empty.
“I was not mentally on the level I should be against these opponents,” he added. “It happens from time to time if you play a lot of matches. And if it happens against a guy like Novak, a score like 6-1, 6-0 is the logical outcome.”
World number two Novak Djokovic is through to the Italian Open final after losing just one game against Dominic Thiem in Rome.
The 29-year-old Serb beat Austrian Thiem 6-1 6-0 in 59 minutes.
Djokovic will meet Alexander Zverev, 20, in Sunday’s final after the German beat John Isner 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-1.
Meanwhile, French Open champion Garbine Muguruza retired from her semi-final against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina with a neck injury.
Svitolina will face Simona Halep in the women’s final on Sunday after the Romanian beat Kiki Bertens.
It was a second appearance of the day for Djokovic, having earlier beaten Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 6-1 6-4 in a rain-affected match carried over from Friday.
There was little sign of fatigue as the men’s French Open champion looked back to his best, serving well and hitting ruthless ground strokes as he raced away with the first set against 23-year-old Thiem.
Thiem, who knocked out Rafael Nadal on Friday, struggled to find any rhythm in the second set as Djokovic broke his opponent’s serve three more times to see out a convincing win.
Zverev, currently ranked 17 in the world, dominated the first set against Isner, 32, winning it in just under half an hour.
Isner levelled the match after a second-set tie-break, but Zverev resumed control, comfortably winning the deciding set.
He guarantees himself a world ranking of 14 but, should he upset Djokovic in the final, he will move into the world’s top 10.
At 20 years and one month, Zverev becomes the youngest Masters finalist since Djokovic himself won the 2007 Miami Open.
Halep, 25, booked her place in the final with a 7-5 6-1 win over 25-year-old Dutchwoman Bertens.
After a hard-fought first set, Halep won the second more convincingly to complete the victory in one hour and 17 minutes.
Svitolina, 22, advanced after Muguruza called the trainer 22 minutes into the match.
Muguruza, who upset Serena Williams to win the French Open last year, will be hoping to recover in time to defend her title at Roland Garros with the second Grand Slam of the year beginning on 28 May.
#NextGenATP German Alexander Zverev thrived under the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 spotlight on Saturday, producing some of his best tennis to advance to his first Masters 1000 final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
Zverev battled past the unseeded John Isner, beating the 32-year-old American 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 in just under two hours. Zverev becomes the youngest Masters 1000 finalist since a 19-year-old Novak Djokovic in 2007. The Serbian won the Miami Open presented by Itau final that year.
The 20-year-old Zverev will look to win his first Masters 1000 crown on Sunday and could face Djokovic in the Rome final. Zverev will meet the winner of Djokovic and Austrian Dominic Thiem, who are scheduled to face off Saturday evening. Zverev and Djokovic have never played but Thiem leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-1, including all three meetings on clay.
Regardless of Sunday’s outcome, Zverev will climb to a new career high in the Emirates ATP Rankings, at No. 14. If he wins the Masters 1000 title, the #NextGenATP star will break into the Top 10 at No. 10.
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The 20-year-old Zverev, who had won both of his FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against Isner, controlled the early goings and looked as if he was going to cruise to a straight-sets win. The 6’6” Zverev tapped a drop shot winner to break for a 3-2 lead and, behind 14 winners, had a one-set cushion after less than a half hour.
Isner mixed it up in the second set, though, serving and volleying with success. Neither player saw a break point, and to the tie-break they headed, where Isner jumped out to a 5/0 lead before levelling the match with a forehand winner.
In the third set, however, Zverev was ready for the serve and volley. Isner charged the net after a second serve at 30/40, 0-1, and Zverev looped a backhand past him for the break. He celebrated with a shout and a clenched fist.
The American had a chance to get back in the match in the third set, with Zverev serving at 3-1. For the first time, Isner had break points, but the German erased all three and served out the set to advance.
Zverev is currently leading the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, which will determine seven of the eight 21-and-under players who will compete at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 7-11 November in Milan. The eighth player will be determined by wild card.
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Novak Djokovic extended his FedEx ATP Head2Head dominance against Juan Martin del Potro, prevailing past the Argentine 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday afternoon after rain and lightning delayed their quarter-final match on Friday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
Djokovic now leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 14-4 and has won their past three matches. The Serbian advances to his second consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final on clay, including his last-four run last week at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Nadal).
The World No. 2 will tackle double duty on Saturday: Djokovic will meet Austrian Dominic Thiem in the Rome semi-finals not before 8 p.m. local time.
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The 29-year-old Serbian is an undefeated 4-0 against Thiem in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Djokovic captured their only prior match-up on clay, last year at Roland Garros, in straight sets.
Another stat in Djokovic’s favour: He has never lost a semi-final match in Rome. Against Thiem, Djokovic will be looking to improve to 8-0 in last-four matches in the Italian capital.
Djokovic and del Potro resumed their quarter-final match at 6-1, 1-2, with Djokovic serving, and the Belgrade native picked up where he stopped on Friday. Djokovic hammered del Potro’s backhand, pinning the Argentine in his backhand corner and keeping him behind the baseline.
With del Potro serving at 2-2, 30/30, Djokovic engaged del Potro in a back-and-forth backhand exchange before lifting a backhand winner up the line. The next point, Djokovic followed a similar script but ended the point with a drop shot winner for the first break of the set. Djokovic served out the match to advance in one hour and 32 minutes.