Novak Djokovic Breaks Curse in Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 Semi-Finals

Novak Djokovic has seen better days on a tennis court. However, this Friday, he managed to break a real curse, the one that had prevented him since 2015 from reaching the final four of the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo. Facing Alex De Minaur, the Serbian was opportunistic to take the lead in the match, and he took advantage of the Australian’s big gaps in service to fold the match (7-5, 6-4). He will face Ugo Humbert or Casper Ruud in the semi-finals.

Under the Monegasque sun, which did not hide, Novak Djokovic and Alex De Minaur entered their meeting timidly. Devoid of flashes, the first exchanges between the two men lasted, until one of the protagonists made a mistake. A face of the match which Novak Djokovic quickly wanted to get rid of, by distilling a few drop shots to shorten the points.

Djokovic appeared blunted

At 5-5, neither the Serbian nor the Australian had yet put their paw on the sleeve. This is precisely the moment that the world number 1 chose to accelerate – and come close to injury on a flying climb. In what turned out to be the high point of the match in terms of level of play, Djokovic took the initiative. More energetic, sharper than his opponent who still sorely lacks a shot allowing him to accelerate and enter the court, he pushed him to make a mistake on his serve to pocket the first set.

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More opportunistic than intractable, the Serb continued his momentum, breaking the Australian from the start of the 2nd set, decidedly weak in his fielding. The start of a battle of a frankly disappointing level, where the two players went… 6 times in a row their service game. On the one hand, Alex De Minaur stalled in the first ball (50% in the second set) and never managed to turn the tide, despite real resistance to the rally. On the other hand, Novak Djokovic increased his gestures of exhaustion. Under his white cap, the Serb withdrew into himself several times in the middle of the game, throughout the second set, visibly blunted by the weather conditions.

Unable to remain sovereign over his throws, the Serb therefore missed the opportunity to take off in this set three times in a row. It was only at 4-4, and with the return of the shadow on one side of the Rainier III court, that the world number 1 found enough bite to conclude a shutout on his entry, before taking a fifth time without much difficulty De Minaur’s serve. And stamp his ticket for the last princely square, which had eluded him for almost 10 years, at the end of a meeting much more laborious than the score suggests.

2024-04-12 16:39:00
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