Wimbledon 2025: Novak Djokovic sees his opportunity on grass

Time of India

11 hours ago

Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts after beating Daniel Evans of Britain during their second round men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
London:
The situation was diametrically different for
Novak Djokovic
last year. After limping out of the French Open with a torn meniscus on his right knee, he underwent surgery, which punctuated his immediate schedule with a question mark. Every other question, at least during the first week of
Wimbledon
, was related to injury, surgery and fitness.
This year it has been all about his sparkling form. After flying to a 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 win over compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic to claim his 100th match win at SW19, the possibility of the superstar Serbian winning a historic 25th Major title is looking brighter than it has in a long time.
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Djokovic, who won his last Major title at the 2023 US Open, is second only to the world No.1 Jannik Sinner in service stats this past week. The 38-year-old, who has spent almost seven hours on court, has been broken once so far, in the third round, winning 98 percent of his service games.
Given the carnage of seeds in the early days, Alexandre Muller, the world No 41, is the highest ranked player Djokovic has played so far in the tournament, and that happened in the first round. He played Daniel Evans (154), and then Kecmanovic (49) in subsequent matches. 'I feel great physically, mentally sharp,' he said.
'Game-wise I'm playing as well as I can on grass.'
Djokovic goes up against the world No.11 Alex de Minaur in the fourth round on Sunday, in what'll be a rematch of last year's quarterfinal match-up which the Aussie was forced to pull out of before a ball was struck.
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Near the end of his fourth-round victory over Arthur Fils last year, De Minaur sustained a hip cartilage tear.
'There's two versions of myself, ' said De Minaur, who trails the head-to-head 1-2. 'Last year I was very confident and ready to kind of take on the world. I got stopped in my tracks. I would say the version that I am right now is a lot wiser. I think I'm more prepared mentally going into this next match.'
'It's amazing for him to still be showing up, still showing that fire.
He's a player that can find motivation from anything, and that's extremely dangerous,' De Minaur said. 'You don't want to give him something to get motivated about because then you'll definitely see his absolute best side.'
As good as De Minaur may be feeling, Djokovic is tipped to go through to at least the semi-finals, where he could play Sinner.
During the tribute to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray joined the Spaniard on court.
The Serb, the only one among the fab four, who is yet to retire, looked shaken. 'I was thinking about my end of the road,' he said later.
For as long as the world No.6 continues in the sport, his best chance for a Major is Wimbledon, given his vast experience of dealing with the vagaries of playing on a slick natural surface, unlike the synthetic hard courts better suited for the younger generation.
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