Tag: Novak Djokovic

Roger Federer felt ‘horrible’ playing injured vs. Novak Djokovic in Aussie Open semifinals

Despite the loss, Federer blew off any retirement chatter.

Roger Federer had a rough exit in the Australian Open. Despite his strong start to his semifinal match against Novak Djokovic, the 38-year-old Swiss player lost Thursday in straight sets, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-3, as he battled through some muscle issues in his groin and leg.

Surely fatigued, Federer’s two of the last three matches leading up to the semifinal were five-set thrillers that featured multiple tiebreakers. First, he beat Australia’s John Millman in the third round after fighting back from being down, 8-4, in the final-set tiebreak to win his 100th Aussie Open match.

Then in the quarterfinals against American Tennys Sandgren, he saved seven match points in the fourth set before winning, but his body was struggling to keep up. Afterward, Federer explained that his groin and leg muscles were tightening up, and, although he wouldn’t say it was an injury, he described it as “pain and problems.”

Despite speculation to the contrary, Federer said in his post-semifinal press conference that he didn’t doubt he’d play against Djokovic, and explained: “I don’t think I would have gone on court if I felt like I had no chance to win.”

He said he wasn’t in pain ahead of the match, though that changed in the second and third sets. But he finished and still has never retired during a match in his career, an “amazing” stat, as Djokovic put it.

When asked to reflect on his tournament performance, Federer said:

“At the end of the day, I guess I’m very happy. I’ve gotta be happy with what I achieved. I think it was the maximum to go to get to this tournament, especially after the Millman and the Sandgren match. Today was horrible to go through what I did. Nice entrance, nice sendoff, and in between, it’s one to forget just because you know you have a three percent chance to win.

“Gotta go for it, you never know, but once you can see it coming that it’s not going to work anymore, it’s tough. But look at the end of the day, I’m very happy. I think I, overall, played all right. I know I can play better, but at the same time, also I know I can play much worse.”

Although Federer was clearly having mobility issues — as Djokovic noted after his win and praised his opponent for still playing — he doesn’t think the problems are too serious, and he said expects to be back to 100 percent “rather quickly.”

He holds the record for most Grand Slams won in men’s singles with 20 — but Nadal (19) and Djokovic (16 going into Sunday’s final) are on his heels — and he said he definitely feels like he could win one or two more. His most recent Grand Slam title was the 2018 Australian Open, but he made it to the French Open semifinals and Wimbledon final last year, before losing, respectively, to eventual champions Nadal and Djokovic.

Asked about how confident he is about returning to the Australian Open, Federer said:

“You never know what the future holds, especially at my age you don’t know. But I’m confident. I’m happy how I’m feeling, to be honest. Got through a good, nice training block. No plans to retire, so from that standpoint, we’ll see how the year goes and how everything’s with the family and go from there. So of course I hope to be back.”

Here’s his full post-match press conference:

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Novak Djokovic praises Roger Federer for playing through groin problems: ‘Respect’

Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer to advance to his eighth Australian Open final.

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic met for the 50th time in their careers, but Thursday’s Australian Open semifinal match was nothing like the last time these two greats faced off in a Grand Slam tournament.

Despite a dominant start from Federer with a 4-1, 40-0 lead in the first set, he began to fall apart, and Djokovic took over, winning the match 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-3. While Djokovic’s run to his eighth Aussie Open final — he’s never lost in this major after advancing to the championship match — has been far from dramatic, the opposite is true for Federer.

Two of the 38-year-old Swiss player’s last three matches going into the semifinal were five-set comeback victories filled with tiebreakers, and in the quarterfinals against American Tennys Sandgren, he was dealing with some groin and leg issues. And he was clearly still having some problems against Djokovic, who gave his opponent credit for a hard-fought match.

In Djokovic’s on-court interview afterward, he said:

“Well, it could have definitely gone a different way if he used those break points. He started off really well. I was pretty nervous at the beginning. I just want to say respect to Roger for coming out tonight. He was obviously hurt and wasn’t at his best — even close to his best — in terms of movement. And respect for coming out and trying his best all the way through.”

After Federer’s quarterfinal win, he said, via Reuters: “I don’t know if you can call it an injury. It’s just pain and problems.”

Djokovic’s victory Thursday night in Melbourne, or very early in the morning on the East Coast, extended his all-time lead over Federer to 27-23 and 11-6 in Grand Slams.

Although he won in straight sets this time, when he and Federer met at Wimbledon in 2019, they stunned sports fans with a nearly five-hour, five set match with multiple tiebreakers before the 32-year-old Serbian player eventually won, 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 13-12 (7-3).

When Djokovic was asked how Federer has made him a better player over the years, he praised Federer as well as Rafael Nadal, who lost in the quarterfinals to Dominic Thiem on Wednesday. Djokovic said:

“I hope I made him [a] 20 percent better player than what he did to me and my tennis and my career. Of course, he’s one of my two biggest rivals throughout my life. I’ve played the most matches at the Grand Slams against Rafa and Roger, so these two guys have definitely made a significant difference in my mind and understanding my own game and what it takes to really win against them.

“At the beginning, I remember when I won my first Grand Slam title here in 2008, after that, it was three very tough years for me because every time I would get to a big match finals or semis of [a] Grand Slam, I would lose to one of these two guys. It took a lot of thinking and a lot of belief, and of course a lot of work, to perfect the game and challenge those guys on the biggest stage.”

Djokovic also won the 2019 Australian Open and his seven titles is a record in the open era. Should he win again Sunday, he’ll earn his first back-to-back Aussie Open trophy since 2015-2016.

He’ll play the winner of the Thiem-Alexander Zverev semifinal, which is Friday evening in Melbourne (3:30 a.m. ET).

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An emotional Novak Djokovic paid …

An emotional Novak Djokovic paid tribute to Kobe Bryant as he continued his march through the Australian Open draw with a straight-sets victory over Milos Raonic in the quarter-finals. Djokovic was good friends with the basketball star, who was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, and came out for the match on Rod Laver Arena wearing a jacket bearing the initials KB, Bryant’s numbers eight and 24 and a heart.
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Novak Djokovic jokingly hopes for ‘at least one match point’ against Roger Federer in Aussie Open semifinal

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will play each other for the 50th matchup of their careers.

For the 50th time in their careers, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will face off in the Australian Open semifinal, and if the last time these two living legends played each other in a Grand Slam is any indication, this could be another epic match.

In the 2019 Wimbledon final, Djokovic and Federer battled through a nearly five-hour, five-set match that captivated sports fans everywhere with the 32-year-old Serbian player coming out on top, 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 13-12 (7-3). It was his 16th Grand Slam title as he tries to catch Federer with 20 and Rafael Nadal with 19.

Djokovic is playing on his best major court with seven of his Grand Slam titles being won in Melbourne, competing for back-to-back Australian Open trophies in his “favorite tournament.”

Despite that, the Djoker still hopes for at least a chance to beat his rival in the Aussie Open semifinal.

In his on-court interview after beating Milos Raonic on Tuesday, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6, Djokovic said of 38-year-old Federer:

“Obviously tremendous respect for Roger [and] everything he has achieved. He has been one of the all-time greats and definitely one of my two biggest rivals. And I’ve been saying this many times, I’ll repeat it again: The matchups against Roger and Rafa have made me a player I am today.

“So I’m grateful I have had so many great matches against those guys. I hope I get to at least one match point in a few days.”

Djokovic leads Federer (and Nadal, for what it’s worth) in head-to-head Grand Slam matchups and overall, and at the rate he’s going, it’s reasonable to think he’ll be considered the GOAT of men’s tennis when his career ends. He leads Federer 26-23 overall and 10-6 in Grand Slams and has won their last five major matches.

In the Australian Open, Federer advanced to the semis just before Djokovic did in an incredible comeback victory over American Tennys Sandgren. He saved seven match points in the fourth set, and Djokovic was among those stunned by what his rival can do.

He continued:

“It was quite amazing what he has done on the court today, and it’s not the first time that he has done that in his career. That’s why he is who he is. Let the better player win.”

The last time Djokovic and Federer played each other in general was in the Nitto ATP Finals in November, and Federer won. However, in Grand Slams, the last time Federer beat Djokovic was in the Wimbledon semifinals in 2012.

During his post-match press conference, Djokovic continued to praise Federer’s comeback win Tuesday and spoke about what makes him so great to play against. He said:

“Whenever we get a chance to play each other, we understand that it takes a big effort, and it’s required from us to come up with the best game in order to win against each other. Wimbledon last year, he had two match points, he was one shot away from winning that match, so it’s not like I’ve been dominating the matchups.

“I’ve had success against him … in Grand Slams in particular, but Roger is Roger. You know that he’s always going to play at such a high level, regardless of the surface. And he loves to play these kind of matches, big rivalries, semis and finals of Grand Slams. And he’s probably going to confirm that that’s probably the biggest reason why he’s still competing — to be able to compete at the Grand Slams against [the] best players in the world.

“What he did today was really amazing, to come back and save seven match points. At his age, he’s still playing such great tennis and proving that he deserves to be up there and he’s a great fighter.”

Djovokic and Federer’s semifinal match is Thursday morning in Melbourne, which will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.

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