‘These kind of matchups and challenges in a way extract the best out of me,” said Novak Djokovic, smiling, as the clock ticked into the early hours of Thursday morning. Djokovic had demonstrated that sentiment in real time as he spectacularly rose to the occasion against the third-best player in the world, utilising the full breadth of his complete, unprecedented game todefeat Alexander Zverevand return to the semi-finals of the French Open, where he will face Jannik Sinner.
“Playing best-of-five, late stages of a grand slam against No 1 in the world, you can’t get more motivated than that for me at this age,” said Djokovic.
Although this performance had been preceded by a barren run of form on the ATP tour that included numerous early losses, the grand slam tournaments are now the sole source of Djokovic’s motivation. No matter how he performs elsewhere, the 38-year-old has continually shown he still steps up on the biggest stages. Just as he excelled against Zverev in Paris, Djokovic was spectacular in January whenhe defeated Carlos Alcarazat the Australian Open. His next task is the toughest of all.
With two rounds to go here, no player in the men’s draw has come close to replicating the sustained level Sinner has demonstrated. The Italian has been ruthless, dismantling opponents with relentless efficiency and forcing them on to the back foot from the start. Against Alexander Bublik and Jiri Lehecka, Sinner’s opponents were reduced to passionately celebrating winning their first game of the match after being bamboozled from the start.
Three weeks ago, Sinner returned to a tennis court on home soil at the Italian Open following his three-month doping ban and immediately reached the final. Afterending his rival’s runin that Rome final, Alcaraz warned that with such positive reinforcement from his comeback tournament and more time to fine-tune his game, Sinner would be at his most dangerous in Paris. He has still not dropped a set.
“I know what to expect from Jannik,” said Djokovic. “He’s going to come out. He’s going to play on a very high level, as he did basically every tournament that he played in the last year and a half. I don’t expect anything less from him.”
The problem with facing Sinner these days is that there is nowhere to hide. His destructive forehand is complemented by arguably the best two-handed backhand in the game. His serve has significantly improved, becoming a key factor in his success, but he is also an elite returner, constantly putting opponents under pressure behind their own serves. Although Sinner is one of the heaviest ball-strikers on the tour, the 23-year-old has also evolved into one of the best defenders. His opponents have been as ineffective at piercing his defence as they have been at absorbing the pace he generates.
Sinner’s recent record against Djokovic, which is now tied at 4-4 overall, underlines his rise. After losing their first three meetings, including twice in the latter rounds of Wimbledon, Sinner has won their last three.His victoryover Djokovic in the semi-finals of the 2024 Australian Open, en route to the first grand slam title of his career, was a seminal moment in Sinner’s development that provided him with the proof that he could beat anyone, anywhere. Eighteen months later, Sinner is a better player than ever. Since August, he has won 46 of his 48 matches and only Alcaraz has defeated him.
Although Djokovic can still compete at the highest level and disrupt Sinner’s rhythm, not even the Serb knows his ceiling at this point of his career and whether he can sustain the quality and physicality across possibly five sets against the best in the world. On FridayToday he will take a step into the unknown to see exactly what the moment extracts from him.