Sasa Ozmo: “In the final, Djokovic won’t be able to allow himself such lapses of concentration”
Novak Djokovic has had an incredible Wimbledon campaign, says Serbian tennis expert Sasa Ozmo
Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon 2024 – © Chryslène Caillaud / Panoramic
Serbian tennis expert Sasa Ozmo says Novak Djokovic did what was necessary against Lorenzo Musetti in the Wimbledon semi-final – but he will need to step it up against Carlos Alcaraz if he is to win the title.
“For the match against Musetti, I think we had what we expected more or less. We knew that there were going to be some beautiful rallies. That Musetti was probably going to play some good tennis, but in the end, Novak will prevail. The only dilemma for me was if it’s going to be three or four sets, in the end it was three.
“Novak did have some blips, maybe near the end of the first and near the end of the third set. And obviously in the final, he won’t be able to allow himself such lapses of concentration. One thing that stood out for me today is how frequently Novak was to the net.
“He went forward 56 times, won 43 of those points. And of course, Alcaraz is a completely different challenge, but I think it’s a good thing that he spent so much time at the net before before this final with Carlos. I think that it’s incredible, having had a surgery, 5th of June, that Novak is in the Wimbledon finals and more or less routinely, he didn’t have many problems in getting to the final.”
The final will be spectacular – Ozmo
But the final, he says, will be a different prospect.
“At 37 years of age, he’s still proving himself that maybe after a subpar six months, that he’s still right up there with with Alcaraz and Sinner. As for the Sunday final, I think it’s going to be fireworks. And I think, Novak nor Novak nor Carlos have brought their A-game so far. And I think they will bring it to the table, on Sunday, we’re going to have a spectacular final.
“I don’t know how the last match final will, affect both of them. Possibly It could even work in Djokovic’s favour because, we know how motivated and eager he is by losses and how eager he is to get revenge. Although he did get revenge to some extent in Cincinnati and Torino. But again that Wimbledon loss was really, really painful for him.
“And Goran Ivanisevic said it was the most painful defeat for him during his 10 years as Novak coach. Maybe Carlos will feel some additional pressure because he will be favourite, I think. He will be viewed as a slight favourite by a lot of people. So yeah, we’ll see.
“All in all, I think this can already count as a win for Djokovic, considering everything that he has done to be prepared for Wimbledon. And he’s made it to the finals one more time, which I really think is incredible.”
