Sasa Ozmo on Djokovic’s good performance against Popyrin: “Novak was sharp in every sense”
Novak Djokovic edged out Alexei Popyrin 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Saturday evening. Our journalist Sasa Ozmo gives you his feeling about the match of the world No. 2, and what he’s expecting for the clash against Holger Rune on Monday at Wimbledon
Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon 2024
Novak Djokovic needed four sets to get past Australia’s Alexei Popyrin and reach the fourth round at Wimbledon. This was the second consecutive four-set win for the Serb, now next meets Denmark’s Holger Rune for a spot in the quarter-finals.
And Serbian tennis journalist Sasa Ozmo gave his expert analysis exclusively to Tennis Majors – saying Djokovic’s performance was a lot more solid as compared to his previous round.
“I feel Novak’s fan have a lot more to be happy about after this match than after the second round match. I think Novak was sharp in every sense, physically, tennis wise and mentally. If I have to single out one thing, I’d say the mental aspect, especially in the fourth set, I think Popyrin served and played lights out, but Novak stayed composed in his service games even though he didn’t have a chance to break Popyrin except for that half chance in the first game, and especially after that 11th game when Novak wasted a 0-40. He stayed composed, didn’t let the emotions get the best of him, and played one hell of a tie breaker. The fact that he was getting better as the match went on is something that is really, really encouraging in terms of his knee, obviously.”
“And I think he wasn’t hesitating at all, which he maybe felt he was, in the second round. As far as tennis wise, I think his serve was, incredible, even in the earlier phases of the match, he did get broken in the first set. But if you remember, that was the only break point Popyrin in the whole match.”
“Novak served extremely well on that break point, too. But he made the wrong choice on the following shot. So yes, I think serve was there for him, even though when, his level from the baseline wasn’t quite there yet, there were some games for Popyrin who had some half chances maybe. And Novak always found the right serve and that stayed true for him throughout the whole course of the match. So he hasn’t faced a breakpoint in the last three sets.”
“There were some ups and downs, maybe with the passing shots, but considering how frequently Popyrin went forward, I think it was pretty good from Novak on that side as well. So yeah, all in all, I think there’s a whole lot more reasons to be optimistic about Djokovic’s performance and about his Wimbledon campaign. I think, his fans would probably have preferred that he plays Halys in the fourth round compares to Holger Rune because Rune, although he’s not playing, good season, let’s put it that way. Although he’s not having a great season. It’s a bad season, actually. But against Novak, he’s always inspired.”
Ozmo also picked Djokovic as the favourite for the fourth-round clash against 15th seed Holger Rune, although he does expect the match to be a tight encounter.
“It’s like playing the guy he looked up to, his role model really makes you want to give, the extra mile. And I expect it to be another tight encounter on Monday. But based on what we’ve seen against Popyrin, although they’re of course, different, different types of rivals, I really expect Novak to, if he stays the same level of sharpness mentally and emotionally, I feel that his game will follow. So I’d say he is the favorite on Monday.”
