New York – Novak jokovich Knows that another final is expected between the world Pronounced sinner And Carlos Alakraj On Sunday at the US Open.
And even he is the man with the most prominent title in history who has spent 428 weeks rank – he is considered the best two players in the world. He has spoke openly about how important the pair is for the game and its future.
But despite all that, 38 -year -old Djokovic is not yet ready to pass the baton.
“Everyone is probably expecting and estimating the final between two of them,” Djokovic said after his quarter -final win. Taylor fritz On Tuesday. “I am going to try, you know, mess up most people’s plans.”
Djokovic will have a chance to do so on Friday, as he takes 22 -year -old Alkaraz, on number 2 seeds, in a curious semi -final semi -final match. Winners will face either top ranked sinners or number 25 seeds Felix Agar-AliasimeWho also play on Friday in the final of Sunday. Alakraj and Papi have played against each other in Wimbledon and French Open in the last two slam finals, and have combined the last seven major titles.
On Friday, the ninth career meeting between Djokovic and Alakraj will mark the meeting with Djokovic with a 5–3 lead and two most recent victories. However, even with that history, Alkaraz is still in favor of winning the match.
For both players, there is a lot on the line. Djokovic is hoping to keep his dream alive to win his 25th major Slam title, which will break a tie for the most time with the Margaret Court, and Alakraj would like to reach his third consecutive major finals and potentially win the sixth win of his career.
Here you need to know before Friday’s semi -finals.
Can Djokovic do this?
Djokovic has some things for him. First, he never lost to Alakraj in the hard court. In his last meeting in the quarter -finals at the Australian Open to start the year, Djokovic Force returned – after maintaining a leg injury and leaving the initial set – powerful groundstroke, strong defense and the progress of the match that looked better and better as the match progression.
Later, Alkaraj admitted that Djokovic’s injury lost his attention a little, and Djokovic credited the experience of his huge career to help him to obstruct and remove any distraction.
During the entire US Open, Djokovic has been pushed on four sets out of three of their five matches, including his 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win over Fritz on Tuesday. Throughout the tournament and season, some of the different degrees of severity were scared of some injuries, and were grateful for the additional off -day before the semi -final performance. He is probably going to need it. Through the semi -finals, Djokovic has spent about 3 and more hours in court than his small rival.
“I am trying to take one day a day, really take care of my body, try to relax and recover,” Djokovic said in the morning hours on Wednesday. “The next few days are really important for me to bring my body to shape and are ready to fight five sets when needed.
“I just love to really love, I would like to be fit enough to play – and play a potential five sets with Carlos. I know that my best tennis is going to be required, but I will get up on the occasion.”
He admitted that he was not feeling “very fresh” at his news conference after the quarter -finals, but was hopeful. He was also convinced in his ability to “grind”, as he had done against Fritz, and found an additional gear in the most important moments. “You just have to play with your heart and fight,” he said. “That’s really I finally won.”
Although not enough in its main form, Djokovic has shown himself as a malignant enemy for Father Time during his run in New York. He has easily roamed the court and was provoked during his strong service. He has won 92% of his service games and was 57 aces. To not mention, he has also won an impressive 33% of his return game.
“I think he always works well, such as, on his first service,” Fritz said on Tuesday night. “He kills his spot well. He gets a good amount of free marks and aces … I think it is difficult in the past how much variance is there in his second service.”
The third round rival of Djokovic, Cameron NoriWhat he played six times before was equally frightening in his praise.
“He served incredibly well, perhaps the best he serves against me,” Nori said. “I was really influenced by it.”
Okay, but Alakraj is still a favorite to win the match, right?
Yes. There has been no more effective in the entire fortnight than Alakraj. Arriving in New York only won the title in Cincinnati, he was the only person to reach the quarter -finals without leaving a set and faced only one tiebreak in his five matches. He is almost invincible, even against high quality opponents.
Jiri LehekaThe tournament number 20 seed, which Alkaraj defeated in less than two hours in the quarter -finals, Alakraj said – or “Grand Slam version of Carlos” – just improved everything when it was most important when it was most.
“If you want to defeat him, you need to win at least a few big points, and he won all of them,” Leheka said on Tuesday. “Even when I really played a good rally, even when I tried to keep it under pressure, go to the net, change the rhythm, do something, he was there, and he had an answer for what I had tried.”
And if all this was not enough, Alkaraz won 99% of his service games – all but one – a surprisingly in New York. He said that reporters had focused his primary focus to improve his service in the last one year and credited his continuity with his recent results.
“Tennis, it is really difficult sometimes, because one day you can really, really well, and the next match you can feel completely different and really bad,” he said after defeating Leheka. “So I am trying to focus on service, just trying to do everything and get good feelings.”
Alkaraj said that he knew that Djokovic was “hungry” and his (then potential) struggle was “ambition” for more, but said that he had his own inspiration: revenge. “Apparently,” he asked for his previous matches on Tuesday.
So, who will win this match?
One thing is certain: Both players will bring an unwavering desire to move forward in their best level and Sunday final.
Djokovic has defeated Alakraj on this surface at a Grand Slam this season, so he knows what he needs to do to do it again. Most importantly, he believes that he can do so. He is also getting information about the ticking watch on his career, and that he only has limited opportunities to get his dream for 25.
But in the event of high pressure it will be seen after a string of semi -final exit in case of high pressure. Djokovic also knows that the longer the match is, the more it is young, and fresher, Alkaraz, so it will need to be stronger from the first point.
There is no one of the same weight on Alakraj’s shoulders. But everything he has is confident, and a game that is clicking on all cylinders. He has not faced much adverseness in his entire run, but if he can handle those moments, if and when they get up, and remain closed, it definitely seems to be sure that it is his match to win.
Prophecy: Alakraj in four sets.
