Novak Djokovic confident Wimbledon is his ‘best chance' of extending slam record
Novak Djokovic believes that this year's Wimbledon likely represents his best chance of winning a record-extending 25th grand slam title as he tries to disrupt the dominance established by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the biggest tournaments in the world.
'I would probably agree that Wimbledon could be the best chance because of the results I had, because of how I feel, how I play at Wimbledon, just getting that extra push mentally and motivation to perform the best tennis at the highest level,' said Djokovic.
The seven-time champion at SW19 returns to the All England Club in an intriguing position. After defeating Alcaraz, the world No 2, en route to the Australian Open semi-finals in January, Djokovic reached the French Open semi-finals with a stellar win over the world No 3, Alexander Zverev, before losing in three tight sets to Sinner. The Serb departed Paris as the third best performer at the grand slam tournaments so far this year and he continues to compete at an extremely high level.
At 38, long past his physical peak, the faster, less attritional grass courts are more conducive to his game. 'This year I played two semi-finals. Unfortunately in Australia I had to retire. In Roland Garros I was outplayed by Sinner. I think I still played a decent level of tennis that showed me that I can still play on a very high level at the later stages. That's what is also giving me an extra, I guess motivation to keep going. Obviously clay court, yeah, probably slightly less chances to win compared to grass.'
Djokovic, the sixth seed this year, is attempting to break his tie with Pete Sampras and become the joint record holder at the All England Club alongside his great rival Roger Federer with eight titles. A victory would also mark him as the oldest grand slam champion in history. As was the case at the French Open, he is unsure of whether this will be his final appearance at Wimbledon. At such an advanced age in the sport, he has resolved to take things one tournament at a time.
Should both players live up to their rankings, Djokovic would face Jack Draper, the British No 1, in the quarter-finals. The fourth seed continued his preparations for Wimbledon on Saturday by working through a friendly practice match with Jacob Fearnley, the British No 2.
After suffering with tonsillitis during his semi-final run at Queen's last week, Draper again stressed that he is feeling much better. He rested for two days after Queen's but he has trained consistently since Tuesday. In addition to the challenge of tackling Wimbledon as a top contender for the first time, Draper has been handed an extremely difficult draw with a potential third-round match against Alexander Bublik, the Halle champion and his conqueror at the French Open.
Unsurprisingly, Draper has had to field countless questions in interviews on his ability to handle the pressure that comes with his new status. 'Obviously you guys have asked me a lot about the pressure and all that sort of stuff. I'm not thinking about that at all,' he said. 'I'm thinking about how I can play my tennis out there. I'm aware that the crowd is going to really be behind me and support me and want me to drive forward in the tournament. That gives me a huge source of motivation to want to keep on trying to find my level and to try to beat these guys. So I feel good. That's the only thing I can say.'
Meanwhile, Sinner, the top seed, declined to elaborate on his surprise decision to part ways with the fitness trainer Marco Panichi and the physiotherapist Ulises Badio after his second-round defeat at Halle last week.
'Nothing major happened,' said Sinner. 'Nothing big happened. I parted ways not long ago, but it's not affecting me. I feel ready to compete. I feel free. I feel me and my team, we are ready to do the best we can. I'm here to play good tennis. I think that's my main goal, the main reason why I'm here.
'We've reached incredible results in the past with them, so obviously huge thanks to them. We made some great job, but I decided to do something different.'
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He had already alighted on a redeeming plan. He had spotted Benfica's goalkeeper, Anatoliy Trubin, in a poor position. Trubin was expecting a cross and, for this reason, had left too much room at his near post. He's 6ft 6in, mind, Trubin. It would need to be some special kick to beat him, no matter where he stood. So James took a special free kick. James takes quite a few of them these days since his comeback from injury. One against Bournemouth on January 14 this year, another for England against Latvia in March. And now this. A special goal, a lucrative goal, given helped take Chelsea into the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup. It was thought James could get lost in the various reshuffles of the Maresca era, squeezed out at full back, swamped by sheer numbers in central midfield. That's not going to happen now. He's a player. Chelsea need players. Not just vanloads of players. Proper ballers. 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Get through this lunacy and who knows where it ends. Benfica (4-2-3-1): A Trubin 8 — F Aursnes 6 (T Gouveia 86), A Silva 7, N Otamendi 5, S Dahl 5 — F Luis 6 (G Prestianni 70), L Barreiro 6, O Kokcu 6 (J Veloso 85) — V Pavlidis 6 (A Belotti 70), A Di Maria 7, A Schjelderup 5 (K Akturkoglu 46 6). Booked Kokcu, Luis, Pavlidis, Prestianni, Silva, Gouveia. Sent off Prestianni. Chelsea (4-2-2-2): R Sanchez 6 — R James 8 (M Gusto 80), B Badiashile 5 (T Adarabioyo 69), L Colwill 7 (A Anselmino 118), M Cucurella 7 — M Caicedo 8, R Lavia 6 (T Chalobah 85) — C Palmer 7, E Fernández 6 (K Dewsbury-Hall 81) — P Neto 7, L Delap 7 (C Nkunku 80). Booked M Caicedo. C Palmer.
