When Alejandro Davidovich's backhand went wide and Novak Djokovic took a two-set lead, the Serb turned to the stands and celebrated almost as if he had won the title.. Like Daniil Medvedev, Nole dislikes that some of the fans side with the weaker player, who is almost always the one who plays in front of him.. The gestures in a provocative tone continued while the tournament's physiotherapist attended to his left thigh, in a break from the magnificent game.
Unbeatable, the Spaniard did not collapse after losing a first set of one hour and 18 minutes. He had set point to return in the eleventh game of the second, but all his intelligent and passionate work came to nothing. The double champion of the tournament won in three hours and 35 minutes (7-6 [4], 7-6 [5], 6-2) and qualified for the round of 16.
Both maintain a good relationship and train from time to time in Marbella. Mutual knowledge was revealed in the good approach of the man from Malaga. Davidovich was far from limited to temporizing. He knew that his options were to make an uncomfortable match for the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, changing heights and taking the initiative as soon as the opportunity arose.. In the first games he martyred him with drop shots. He may lack decisive shots, but he is a player of remarkable creativity, who has already made Carlos Alcaraz work his thing at the Conde de Godó.
In the penultimate of the already four crosses between the two, Davidovich had surprised the Serbian in the second round of Monte Carlo, last year. It was not a circumstantial victory, no matter how much Djokovic usually takes to get the machinery ready in the clay season. The Spaniard walked to the final of the tournament, only losing to Stefanos Tsitispas, in what is the greatest success of his career to date.. Junior champion on the grass of Wimbledon, has managed to stabilize in the top 40 after overcoming some difficult years in the transition to the ATP circuit. Not all get it.
missed opportunities
Djokovic's three double faults in the eleventh game, conditioned by the wind, opened the door for Davidovich to win the first set. After overcoming the two previous rounds against two French players, enduring the pressure of the stands, this time he had the sympathy of many fans, who chanted the already popular “Foki, Foki, Foki!”, derived from his second surname, Fokina.
If he lacks something, it is the necessary cold blood to dispute well the points that matter most. The two times he managed to break he saw his opponent break him back. He did not go well in the first tiebreaker either, with three big errors in the core moments: a hasty drop shot, a long crossed backhand and another long forehand. Djokovic left his mark to take the first set with a spectacular forehand cross return on a first serve.
Far from collapsing, Davidovich kept up the stake against a Djokovic at times pusillanimous, unable to finish taking off on the scoreboard. He did not go far to at least delay the fight, but he suffered the blow in the third set, already clearly in the hands of the devious genius from Belgrade.