1 Response to rg21_djokovic_tsitsipas

1. Voo de Mar says:

   June 13, 2021 at 9:24 pm

   Points won by each set: | 42-43, 17-27, 36-28, 30-19, 39-30 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   21 % Djokovic – 29 of 134
   27 % Tsitsipas – 48 of 177

   # Their second meeting at Roland Garros and another five-setter. As opposed to October ’20, in June ’21 it was Tsitsipas [5] who won the opening two sets. He began his first Grand Slam final a bit tense, but once he fought off two break points to finish the game with three straight aces, he found his rhythm. They finished the opener being dirty after falling down on the court (Djokovic at 3-all, Tsitsipas when he led 4:0 in the tie-break). Djokovic [1] saved a set point at 4:5 with a long rally and broke in the following game – the Greek broke back and after squandering a 4:0 lead in the tie-break, he saved a set point at *5:6 with a great forehand winner off balance. After dropping the opener, Djokovic seemed deflated, I wasn’t sure whether it was a consequence of a 4-hour semifinal against Nadal or discouragement after losing the tight opener. Following the 2nd set he left the court to change his clothes and came back fully motivated. The 4th game of the 3rd set was pivotal – Djokovic broke after the longest game of the final (6 deuces) to lead *3:1 and since then to the end of the 4th set he overwhelmed his 11 years younger opponent. In the 4th set Tsitsipas signaled problems with the lower part of his back, but when the decider kicked off, he regrouped and played his normal tennis to the end. He lost his serve at 1-all though, and similarly to the previous two sets, he was not able to create a break point chance. Actually he was quite close to lose the decider 2-6, but at *2:4 (15/40) won an amazing rally, barely putting the ball into an open court with a forehand volley. With the same shot Djokovic finished the event, and behaved very calmly – his mission isn’t accomplished yet, he needs two more Slam titles to overcome Federer & Nadal which will put him in a position of the greatest player of all times (at least in my opinion). Djokovic has confirmed his status of the greatest 5-set player, he has a 35-10 record now (six comebacks from two-sets-to-love), and has defeated in 5-setters all the best players of the past 10 years, he needs to add 5-set wins over Medvedev & Zverev, who have established themselves as the best players born in the 90s, beside Tsitsipas and Thiem, whom Djokovic has defeated in 5-set Grand Slam finals. “[This] probably ranks at the top three all-time achievements and experiences that I had in my professional tennis career: going through four-and-a-half battle with Rafa on his court, then bouncing back after not practicing yesterday, just coming in today with as much as recharged batteries and energy regained to fight another battle of four-and-a-half hours against Tsitsipas.” said Djokovic.

   Djokovic’s route to his 19th Slam (second in Paris):
   1 Tennys Sandgren 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
   2 Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
   3 Ricardas Berankis 6-1, 6-4, 6-1
   4 Lorenzo Musetti 6-7(7), 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-0, 4-0 ret.
   Q Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5
   S Rafael Nadal 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2
   W Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

   Serve & volley: Djokovic 2/2, Tsitsipas 2/3
   Dropshots: Djokovic 15/25, Tsitsipas 9/16

   # Comparison of their two 5-setters at French Open:
   2020 (SF): Djokovic d. Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1… 3 hours 54 minutes… Total points: 172-149 (321)
   2021 (F): Djokovic d. Tsitsipas 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4… 4 hours 11 minutes… Total points: 164-147 (311)

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