
Novak Djokovic is just built different. You can put the odds against him or take him to his limits but he always prevails. A true mentality monster, in so many ways. He was, again, tested by someone who had his number in the Olympics, Alexander Zverev. The German pushed Djokovic to his limits again as the Serb had to dig himself out many times but in the end, he prevails always as he did here with a final score of 4-6 6-2 6-4 4-6 6-2.
Novak. Djokovic. No other words are needed. pic.twitter.com/n2YrBKRNEk
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 11, 2021
The start wasn’t so smooth for Djokovic. Zverev broke Djokovic’s serve. His height proved an advantage as his aces were a bit difficult to handle for the world no.1.Djokovic was pinned back with long groundstrokes. Both players played high-quality tennis but Zverev held on his serve and broke Djokovic’s, as he double-faulted, during a crucial moment to make the Serb lose his fouth consecutive first set.
The second set was much more comfortable as he took on the German more comfortably, even though he lost a breakpoint as Djokovic punished his mistakes appropriately. The third set was much more competitive. Zverev’s serve and power off both wings prove difficult for most opponents but Djokovic mixed his shots with a spin and slice to make it difficult for Zverev.
Zverev got the better of Djokovic in a 53 shot rally during the third set but Djokovic won a 16 shot back and forth to seal the set and left the crowd on its feet. The German also lost the chance to take this set as Djokovic came back from a 4-5 lead to get a triple breakpoint.
Zverev broke Djokovic early in the fourth set and held on to his serve enough to serve to tie the match and force a decider, a first for Djokovic in the fortnight. In the fifth set though, Zverev fell behind 15-30 and then 30-40, in his opening serving game of the deciding set to give Djokovic an early break-point chance. Djokovic deftly put a passing forehand to break the serve 2-0. It was a little too late for Zverev as he got two points but lost the match when sent a backhand into the net to end the match at 3 hours and 34 minutes.
Djokovic will next face 2nd seed Daniil Medvedev in the finals. He defeated Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime comfortably in the semis. This will be a chance to create history for the Serb as he aimed to have a career grand slam and he is very close to one, now.