Novak Djokovic surpasses Roger Federer and hunts down Rafa Nadal at French Open
Novak Djokovic has revealed he goes into psychological “lockdown” throughout tiebreaks after overtaking Roger Federer as the very best sudden-death participant of all time. And the Serbian famous person is now solely two wins away from leaving Rafa Nadal behind as the best male star in historical past.
The Serbian famous person has but to make an unforced error in 5 tiebreaks on the French Open. And the world No.3 admitted he was “perfect” in taking the essential second set tiebreak towards Karen Khachanov 7-0 to arrange a semi-final showdown with Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros.
“I kind of held my nerves in the tie-break of the second, played a perfect tie-break, really. 7-Love,” he mentioned. “Every point was perfectly scripted for me, so to say. Amazing tie-break. Every single point I played it in a perfect manner.”
Djokovic is now 307-162 for tiebreaks in his profession – a successful proportion of 65.5%. Federer completed his profession with a 65.4% successful proportion (466-247).
The Serb famously received three tiebreaks to beat the Swiss in his final Grand Slam remaining at 2019 Wimbledon – together with the primary ever final-set tiebreak – regardless of Federer outplaying Djokovic in most classes.
Djokovic continued: “In the tiebreak, the format is such that you serve every two points. Every point matters. Really, every point can decide in which direction a tiebreak is going to go.
“So I think it’s kind of a mentality of a lockdown: ‘Okay, I’m present, I’m focused only on the next point’ and I have to really think clearly about what I want to do, obviously depending on who you’re facing in a given opponent.
“Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t. I think I was lucky that throughout my career I have a very good and positive score in the tiebreaks. My opponents know that, and I know that. So I think mentally that serves me well. Coming into every next tiebreak, I know I maybe have that mental edge so I try to use it.”
This season Djokovic has a 14-4 (77.8%) file in tiebreaks and he’s 8-1 in Majors, together with successful each within the Australian Open remaining towards Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Wimbledon champion entered the French Open on 22 Grand Slams – stage with 14-time champion Nadal who’s out for the remainder of the yr following hip surgical procedure.
Before the match, the world No.3 mentioned: “It’s no secret that one of many major causes I play at present and compete in skilled tennis is to attempt to break extra data and make extra historical past in tennis. That’s extraordinarily motivating and provoking for me.
“History being on the line is something that is very flattering and is very motivating, no doubt about it. Obviously Nadal not playing in the tournament here is a big loss for tennis, is a big loss for Roland Garros, because he’s by far the most successful player to play in this tournament in history. So of course it opens up a chance and opportunity for the rest of us to try to get a title.”