Izuchukwu OkosiNovak Djokovic on Friday evening advanced to the final of the 2023 Roland Garros (men’s) following the retirement of Carlos Alcaraz at the end of the second game of the third set of their quarterfinals match due to injury.
With the set score level (6-3, 5-7) and 1-1 in the third set, he had to call the tournament physiotherapist and that meant automatic loss of the next service game.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAlcaraz knew he couldn’t continue and looked to his bench to know what to do. Djokovic, in a gesture that does him credit, had crossed the court to take an interest.
“I’m f**ked, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,” he informed Juan Carlos Ferrero, his coach. The match had ended for him in the worst possible way: 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, in 3 hours and 23 minutes.
In the fourth set, he tried his best. He even had a break point in the first game. He played an all-or-nothing game. A winning shot here, a winning shot there, but with zero mobility.
Djokovic was celebrating every point because he will play his 34th Grand Slam final on Sunday and people were getting into his face. Alcaraz lost but he left with his head held high, giving his all, even winning a last game that showed his fighting spirit.
It was Djokovic who managed a break in the fourth game that put the score to 4-1. The Spaniard could notice that little bit of tension added by the stage and the opponent. Forty-five Grand Slam semifinals to two is a big difference in terms of experience.
Djokovic’s inspiration stopped in the seventh game, with a double fault that gave Carlitos the first chance to break.
The wind was the protagonist and stopped a drop shot. The number one had a second chance that ended with a backhand into the net. And a third, which died with the champion of 22 majors volleying mercilessly.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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