Wimbledon, quarter-finals, Wednesday, 10.07.2024, 20:30
Started strong, eased off a little, went ice cold again before the deciding rounds – is Novak Djokovic fit for his eighth Wimbledon match after all? The former champion will first play his quarter-final on Wednesday!
His opponent is in the top 10, but of course the Djoker is the favorite. Why is that the case and why would I still go for the bet of over 3.5 sets? I’ll tell you in my De Minaur Djokovic tip:
Did he pick his best match for the time being for the round in which his strongest opponent to date was waiting? Novak Djokovic just doesn’t want to end the big guessing game about his fitness.
If we start from the beginning, we end up in the round of 16 against Holger Rune. While many, including myself, had expected a very close result, the Serbian pulled through rigorously.
He won 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, remaining setless for the first time since the first round. His scores and statistics don’t even read as if there was no getting past him.
Djokovic himself said afterwards: “I’m very satisfied, but I don’t think he played at his highest level either. It was a very solid performance. He lost the first twelve points of the match and I think that affected him mentally. “
Or, to put it another way: tick it off and know that he needs to improve his performance. After the match, the Djoker also got into a bit of an argument with the crowd, something we’re also used to seeing from him.
So it doesn’t seem as if the Serb is absolutely unbeatable. That was also clear from the results in the previous rounds, which naturally pleased the neutral spectator.
4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 against Alexei Popyrin and 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 against Jacob Fearnley, Djokovic doesn’t really seem invincible anymore. But of course he still has the class to always have the matches under control.
He now faces Alex de Minaur on Wednesday. Although the two have been playing the same tournaments regularly for almost ten years, they have only faced each other directly three times
The result: a narrow 2:1 for Djokovic. In 2023, just last year, the Serb made his debut, winning the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 victory. In other words: there were already two duels in 2024!
At the United Cup, de Minaur triumphed 6-4, 6-4, and a little later in Monte Carlo, Djokovic won relatively narrowly 7-5, 6-4. So it could well be a close match, especially as we will now see the first encounter on grass.
According to the European Championship betting providers, who of course also have all the odds for Wimbledon in their program, the Djoker is of course ahead, but the odds of 1.25 to 3.50 also show that de Minaur is by no means considered to be without a chance.
The Australian has played his way into the top 10 and currently occupies ninth place in the world rankings. A good performance at Wimbledon? That is still missing, as he has only reached the round of 16 once so far
So he’s already serving stronger than ever in London. The champion from Hertogenbosch struggled a little at the start, however, winning a tiebreak festival 7-6, 7-6, 7-6 against James Duckworth.
However, he had a much easier time in the second round, beating Jaume Munar 6-2, 6-2, 7-5. It was even easier in round 3, as his opponent Lucas Pouille retired injured before the first serve.
De Minaur lost his first set in the round of 16 against Arthur Fils, the next Frenchman. 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, de Minaur wobbled only briefly and deservedly reached the round of the best eight for the first time.
He allowed his opponent 14 break chances, five of which he took. De Minaur has already conceded 27 break opportunities, something he will not allow himself to do against Djokovic.
At 1.83m, he is not the tallest player, so he does not shine too often in the service game. Also striking: he had the chance to break 52 times in just three matches, but only took it 20 times
My De Minaur Djokovic tip
Will Novak Djokovic now storm into the Wimbledon final without any problems? First of all, he has to overcome Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals. Difficult enough? Quite possibly, as the Australian has only dropped a single set so far.
At the same time, Djokovic is certainly struggling and was lucky in the round of 16 against Holger Rune that the Dane wasn’t in a good mood himself. All in all, I don’t think the world number 9 has no chance against the Djoker. And that’s why my tip is:
We’ll see more than 3.5 sets!
