Novak Djokovic is among the hardest puzzles to unravel in sports activities. The World No. 1 frustrates the most effective gamers on this planet and rapidly finds a solution to each query they pose. Even when the Serbian is just not at his finest, he manages to remain involved earlier than delivering a heartbreaking blow in probably the most essential second. The 35-year-old has proven that lots in 2023 en path to his 15-0 begin to the season.
But on Friday, within the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Djokovic will face a distinct problem. The prime seed will play the winner of 12 consecutive matches, Daniil Medvedev, the one man who persistently frustrates him just like the five-time Dubai champion does everybody else on the ATP Tour.
Djokovic leads the pair’s ATP Head2Headvert collection 9-4, however that document doesn’t inform the total story of their matchup. The Serbian has loved a legendary rivalry with Rafael Nadal, however that may be a totally different conflict of types completely. Nobody drives Djokovic loopy the best way Medvedev does.
“Daniil is one of the best players in the world the last five years. Grand Slam winner. Former No. 1 in the world. Not much to talk about,” Djokovic mentioned. “His quality is as tough as it gets when you are supposed to face someone on the hard court, particularly.”
Watch Medvedev Thursday Hot Shot:
In January, Medvedev fell to No. 12 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, simply 5 months after sitting atop the standings. He gained simply two titles in 2022 — an ATP 250 in Los Cabos and an ATP 500 in Vienna — and was struggling as a lot as he has since exploding into the Top 10 for the primary time in 2019.
The problem-solving magician was changing into his personal hardest opponent. At his perfect, Medvedev mows by service video games and performs like a wall in return video games, ready out his opponents and making them uncomfortable. But all of the sudden, powerful losses piled up and a lack of confidence made him extra weak.
The good news for followers world wide excited for Friday’s blockbuster showdown is that loads can change in a month. And it has. Medvedev is again to World No. 7 and firing on all cylinders once more.
After capturing back-to-back titles in Rotterdam and Doha, he carries a 12-match successful streak into his battle with Djokovic. Medvedev has confronted simply two break factors in Dubai and his inimitable forehand — efficient, if not fairly — is more and more changing into a weapon once more.
This is the true Litmus take a look at for Medvedev. The third seed is again in kind, however is he able to defeat Djokovic and start his pursuit to return to the very prime of the game? Is his stage already among the many two or three finest gamers on this planet?
“I’m playing good right now. But when you play Novak, Novak is always the favourite. He won probably, I don’t know, [his last] 50 matches and lost maybe four or five. So he’s huge. He’s playing great, moving great. You can never say that he’s 35 years old. But I always had some good fights with him, so I’m hoping for my best shape tomorrow because it’s the only way to beat him.”
Watch Dubai Thursday Highlights:
Medvedev’s reminiscence is correct. Since the beginning of Rome final May, Djokovic has gained 50 of his 53 matches. Three occasions throughout that stretch, Djokovic has defeated Medvedev, together with a straight-sets victory in Adelaide earlier this yr.
None of these matches got here with Medvedev within the kind he’s in now, however he nonetheless took a set in two of the three. And no person will quickly overlook when Medvedev shocked Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 within the remaining of the US Open in 2021, when the Serbian was one match from finishing a historic Grand Slam.
But even an in-form Medvedev will should be at his perfect to problem the Serbian. The identical approach Medvedev frustrates Djokovic, it really works the opposite approach, too.
According to a TennisViz evaluation for Tennis Data Innovations, Medvedev gained an astonishing 43 per cent of factors from a defensive place in Rotterdam and Doha. But it will likely be a much more tough problem to “steal” factors on the identical charge towards Djokovic underneath the Dubai lights. The World No. 1 has additionally been a serving machine in 2023, in response to an Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers evaluation.
“I’m just really happy to be on a streak right now,” Medvedev mentioned earlier within the week. “Streaks always finish. I will try to extend mine as long as I can.”
The query is, will it come to an finish towards Djokovic?
In one other star-studded semi-final, two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev will attempt to proceed his return to kind towards longtime pal and second seed Andrey Rublev.
Zverev started the week with a 3-6 document in 2023. He missed the rest of 2022 after hurting his ankle final yr within the semi-finals of Roland Garros towards Rafael Nadal. But the German rallied from a set down towards highly effective Czech Jiri Lehecka to start his week and has gained momentum since.
“I’m starting to play decent tennis, which is nice after nine months,” Zverev mentioned. “I’m happy about that.”
The former World No. 2 owns a 5-0 ATP Head2Headvert benefit over Rublev, who has proven an amazing combating spirit this season. He has saved no less than one match level and gone on to win the match thrice in 2023.
“I want to do my best. That’s it. I want to fight,” Rublev mentioned. “I want to show [a] great match and we’ll see what’s going to happen. If he’s better, he will deserve to win. If I’m better, I will deserve to win. So it’s simple.”
Source web site: www.atptour.com
