Felix Auger-Aliassime is proud of how he fought Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, but admitted the disappointment of losing such a close match is great. The Canadian explained why Nole remains almost impossible to beat on grass, even though he has passed the 39-year-old threshold.
Novak Djokovic advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals on Tuesday, defeating world number four Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 7-6 (10/12), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (10/4) in the longest quarterfinal of this year’s tournament (over 5 hours). The match was also the longest of Nole’s career on the London grass.
Before the tie-break of the decider, the two “gladiators” had won the same number of points in the match, but, this time too, the superior experience and concentration of the athlete from the Balkans had their say. Auger-Aliassime remains with the performance of being the only player in history to have taken Nadal and Djokovic to the decider at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, but he cannot help but be affected by not having managed to cross the “finish line” this time either. The North American has reached the quarterfinals of Grand Slams 6 times in his career, but only at the US Open did he enter the “square of aces”.
” In short, it was an incredible fight, a fantastic battle against a legend of our sport. That’s how it is. Obviously, it’s very difficult for me. It happened to me in the quarterfinals in Paris and now here. I’ve had other occasions in my career where such close matches didn’t go the way I wanted. I’ll have to see what I can do to succeed next time. For now, I can be proud of how I fought and that gives me confidence to move forward.
“I’m very confident, I don’t think that was the problem. After taking the second set, I lost my concentration a little bit in one game, after more than two and a half hours of intense concentration. But then, in the fourth set, I was lucky to come back because he also had a slight drop in form and gave me an opportunity. But, in the end, he showed again that he plays best when it matters most. He is more solid than me when the important moments arrive ,” admitted Auger-Aliassime.
Why is Djokovic so hard to beat even at 39?
Asked how Djokovic remains nearly unbeaten on grass despite being 39 years old, Auger-Aliassime spoke about how much his serve helps the Serb. And when his first serve doesn’t go in, Nole has the knack of coming up with a very long ball that takes opponents out of their comfort zone.
In addition, the Serbian excels under pressure, always bringing his “A” game in key moments, making it very difficult to get past him, especially on grass.
” It’s a matter of playing style. His is more consistent and solid under pressure than mine. His serve is probably one of the best in the league. Once his serve is working, we all know what he does. Every second serve, he doesn’t let you take the initiative, he always sends it really deep. We’ve seen that for many years, but it’s still impressive that he can do it every time.
“I’ve watched countless matches of Novak over the years. Even when he’s not at his best, like that final against Roger here in 2019, he always gives the impression that in tie-breaks or in crucial moments he serves well or forces you to play an extra shot. He keeps you in a position where you can’t attack him, he neutralizes your game and waits for your mistake ,” the Canadian explained.
If Auger-Aliassime is now thinking about vacation and returning to a good level in the US Open Series tournaments, Djokovic has a big challenge ahead of him: he will meet Sinner, for a place in the All England Club final.
The Italian has become his “godfather” in recent years on the circuit: he leads him 6-5 in straight sets, winning 5 of the last 6 encounters. However, Nole’s morale cannot be bad, considering that in the semifinals of the Australian Open, in January, he came back from 1-2 down in sets to defeat the student of Cahill and Vagnozzi (3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 for the athlete from the Balkans, who would later lose the final against Alcaraz). Djokovic and Sinner also met last year at Wimbledon, in the penultimate act, the current world number one prevailing in the minimum of sets.
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