Djokovic Grand Slam Decline: Lojda & Alcaraz Final Analysis – Aktuálně.cz

Two sets were missing, and world tennis would now live on the record of Novak Djokovic’s 25th Grand Slam. But it didn’t happen.

First of all, full credit must be given to the Serb for the kind of tennis he was able to display at the age of 38. Beating Jannik Sinner in five sets in the semi-finals of the Australian Open is a respectable feat.

Defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the final only underscored what I was saying all last year. Djokovic will not win another Grand Slam.

It is confirmed that he can defeat one of them at the same time. Jakub Menšík opted out of the Serbian team in the round of 16, the gravedigger escaped from the shovel in the quarter-finals when the injured Lorenzo Musetti surrendered to him. He was actually extremely lucky, which probably saved him the energy to defeat the Italian in the semi-finals.

But it wasn’t enough for the final. There, Alcaraz took care of it while Djokovic ran out of juice.

And I’m not saying at all that I have any antipathies towards Novak. At all. I know him personally, I’m a fan of him, but he’s at a huge disadvantage compared to the two in the first two places in the rankings.

And that’s the fifteen-year difference in the ID card. He definitely still has the tennis to beat both of them consecutively somewhere at the Masters in two sets, he clearly showed it in Melbourne. He kept pace with his opponents in exchanges.

But at the Grand Slam, regeneration always overtakes him. Alcaraz had exactly the same devastating semi-final as Djokovic. In the five sets with Zverev, he was in convulsions, he was being treated, he went all the way with his energy.

But while Djokovic lasted only one set after a two-day recovery, Alcaraz, on the other hand, revved up his engines from the second and comfortably cruised to victory.

Novak had an emotional speech at the press conference, he promised to fight for another chance, that he is not giving up. But the question is how long he will enjoy this. Already in Australia, he indicated that he does not know whether he will appear directly on the court again in Melbourne next year.

Australia was talked about as Djokovic’s last chance to prove it, now it will be difficult. We can eliminate Paris straight away, it will be even more difficult to struggle with the young guys on clay. At Wimbledon, there is a specific movement on the grass. So if he could attack anywhere else, it would probably be at the US Open, but even then it’s very difficult.

But I don’t want to diminish Alcaraz’s triumph. He, in turn, confirmed that the breakup with the coach definitely did not affect him. It’s not even possible to forget after a month everything that Juan Carlos Ferrero has taught him over the past few years.

Rather, I noticed that he was very focused this time from the first match. We used to see him in matches where, for example, he turned off his head for one set or was too much on top of things, and that got him into trouble. This time he still played responsibly and deservedly won.

Jelena Rybakinová’s title was certainly deserved. In the female spider, we kind of suspected that Aryna Sabalenková was the clear favorite for the finals, and it was mainly about who would complement her. The favorite was definitely Belinda Bencicová, in my eyes also Iga Šwiateková, but it was Rybakinová who passed the second half of the field best.

In the final, it was a bit of a shooting range, where Belarus could not manage it with her head a bit in the third set, on the contrary, the tennis player from Kazakhstan was the calmer one and in the end, she confidently finished it off in the last game.

It shows how well she is playing, she already had a fantastic end of the year, she won the Tournament of Champions and now the only player who has beaten her in recent months is Kája Muchová.

Rybakinová improved tremendously after the case with the coach. It must not have been easy for her, she is a big introvert, and from what I heard from various sources, the case of Stefan Vukov was said to be quite inflated and not as escalated as the WTA investigation made it seem.

The fact that his punishment was over and he was back in her trainer’s box had obviously helped her quite a bit. He knows her best, his advice works. Of course, I don’t want to stand up for him, I don’t know how it was then, but apparently this cooperation benefits her.

Although we are only at the beginning of the season, she is already third in the world and I would not be at all surprised if she overcame Sabalenkova in the fight for number one. Apart from clay, it probably has weapons for all surfaces.

But let’s not only praise foreign tennis players. Melbourne also experienced one great Czech success. It was the first time since 1988 that two pairs from the same country met there in the junior doubles final.

Sisters Jana and Alena Kovačkova won their second Grand Slam in a row. Their opponents were friends from Sparta and Štvanice – Tereza Heřmanová and Denisa Žoldáková.

A great business card for Czech tennis and a stamp for the Kovaček sisters that their performances are no accident.

On the other hand, I’m not at all surprised that they leave Australia sad anyway. They played the roles of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in singles. That means they went there to win.

Even according to what their mother and coach Eva Kovačková said, the girls were considering whether to fly to the other side of the globe at all. Fifteen-year-old Jana said she had to because it was in her contracts, Alena wanted to try to be seeded number one.

That’s tricky. Participating in a Junior Grand Slam is attractive in terms of marketing, it’s an event where you can be seen, with a possible title you can secure some additional partners or wild cards into bigger tournaments.

It’s not that interesting from a sporting point of view. The commitment often does not match the tennis players’ level at all. For example, Jana paid for that when she beat a girl in the second round who normally already goes around adult tournaments, is around 500th place and higher than Jana in the final. But she doesn’t really have a junior ranking, so Jana got her in the second round as unseeded.

But I wouldn’t worry about it, Jana is 15, she will still have some chance to win a junior grand slam, Alena will probably start playing more adults and there she will gain more experience and points to advance.

As at every Grand Slam, a lot of attention is focused on the doubles performance of Katka Siniaková. This time, she did not succeed among women even in the mix, and even lost the post of world number one.

I wouldn’t see it as a great tragedy, at her age she has nothing to prove to anyone, she can do well at the next Grand Slams in such a way that she takes back the throne.

But it is quite possible that she will perhaps focus even more on singles, it will probably be her hidden desire to move up the rankings even higher and play the biggest tournaments in singles as well.

But the quarter-finalists Patrik Rikl and Petr Nouza deserve to win in the doubles. They defeated the defending champions Harri Heliövaar with Henry Patten and overall showed how well they are played.

It’s a perfect achievement – a big chunk of points that helped them to 44th and 45th place in the rankings. And great timing before the Davis Cup, where both are nominated for the first time and where they will help against Sweden.

Tomáš Berdych was a little worried after Kuba Menšík was injured and had to look for a replacement for him, but he didn’t have to choose for so long. The cast is wide enough to complement it. Other youngsters Dalibor Svrčina and Maxim Mrva will thus get their chance.

A great experience for both of them, a great weekly preparation and matches against an opponent that should be defeated even in a weakened lineup.

I hope that week will also help Jirko Leheček, who did not go as expected in Australia. Berďa will give them all space and facilities for quality training, sparring with the other boys, and hopefully this will mean not only a comfortable progress, but also a good springboard for the boys to the next phase of the season.