After thrashing Alex de Minaur within the fourth-round tie previous this week, nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic used to be requested on the rest of the draw. Of the seven males left, he narrowed it down to simply Stefanos Tsitsipas, however for Djokovic, their best ever Grand Slam ultimate assembly, on the 2021 French Open, had light into oblivion.
Tsitsipas [is] one of the crucial skilled man out of the entire quarterfinalists. He has performed the general levels of a Grand Slam relatively a couple of occasions. I feel he hasn’t ever performed a last. Am I improper?” Djokovic asked.
On being reminded by the journalist, he grinned and said, “That’s proper. Sorry, my dangerous.”
In the context of their second Grand Slam final meeting, and first ever tie at the Australian Open, one could call it mind games. But for a player so has incurred just two losses in a Grand Slam since 2021 and only two on the tour since May last year, it could be rightfully down to the Serb’s sheer forgetfulness. Tsitsipas’ loss from a two-set lead at Roland Garros is part of his indomitable Slam streak. Add to that Djokovic’s 9-0 record in the Australian Open final, 27-0 record in Melbourne Park since 2019 and 9-2 head-to-head record against the Greek and the 24-year-old has one of the toughest barriers to break in a bid to claim her maiden Grand Slam title.
But here stands Tsitsipas, the only man, of the 63 others, from his section of the draw, standing between Djokovic and his unprecedented 10th title at Rod Laver Arena, having reached the final by playing his career-best tennis. He sure has the weaponry to pull off an upset in the final, but against an opponent of this stature, Tsitsipas needs to be flawless with his skill, consistent with his aggression and poised from the inside. Ahead of the blockbuster meeting in the Australian Open final on the Rod Laver Arena, we take a tactical dive into the factors that could help Stefanos Tsitsipas beat nine-time champion Novak Djokovic,
“Stefanos will have to name Daniel!”
When Karen Khachanov was asked about how Tsitsipas could beat Djokovic, moments after his semifinal loss to the third seed, the Russian was apt in pointing out that “no one from that era beat him, except for Daniil I feel in america Open ultimate,” before cheekily adding, “Maybe Stefanos has to name to Daniil to invite him what he did that day (smiling). I do not know if that is going to occur…”
It is not going that Tsitsipas would give the 2021 US Open winner a decision, given their on-court tensions, throughout their contention conferences, which is well-documented. But it would not hurt the Greek to place apart his variations and revisit Medvedev’s profitable technique on the Flushing Meadows.
Bouncing again the beating he won from Djokovic within the Australian Open ultimate initially of that 12 months, Medvedev determined to modify his plan and overload the Serb’s Ad court docket with umpteen backhand-to-backhand exchanges, even supposing a lot of that tactic additionally relied at the Russian’s ultra-flat backhand which gave Djokovic not anything to paintings with.
Pull a leaf out of Holger Rune’s guide
The best participant to have Djokovic since remaining May, with the exception of Rafael Nadal within the French Open quarters, used to be the younger Holger Rune. And it used to be Djokovic throughout his very best run in 2022 and at one in every of his maximum favourite venues, the Paris Bercy. On again of titles in Tel Aviv and Astana, Djokovic had reached his 8th ultimate in Paris Masters, hoping so as to add a 7th name to his identify at Bercy. But his run used to be halted through an competitive Rune who used a relatively dangerous means in scripting a turnaround within the fit and it used to be all right down to his serve.
The Danish used the Serve + 1 forehand means which passed him 16 of the 18 issues. The technique allowed him to unsettle Djokovic through taking time clear of him.
One of the the most important elements that might alleviate Tsitsipas’ probabilities of beating Djokovic for the primary time in 10 conferences is sheer aggression – willingness to stay the rallies quick, now not permit Djokovic from settling into lengthy rallies and baseline exchanges, and are available to the online as as incessantly as imaginable.