Novak Djokovic qualified with full merit for the final of the 2023 Australian Open. There was some doubt about the Serbian’s physical condition during the first week of the tournament, but Nole’s level rose as the days went by and the opponents scraped together the crumbs in front of him.
Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev and Tommy Paul were literally swept away by the Belgrade champion, who is hunting for his tenth seal at Melbourne Park. The last obstacle in his path is Stefanos Tsitsipas, who reached the last act after beating Russian Karen Khachanov.
Djokovic and Tsitsipas have already met in a Grand Slam final, at Roland Garros 2021, when Novak made a formidable comeback from two sets down. The Happy Slam winner will also be the new world number 1 by ousting Carlos Alcaraz from the throne, who had to miss the AOs due to a leg injury.
Shortly before the semifinal against Paul, Djokovic ended up again in the eye of the storm because his father was immortalized together with some Putin supporters.
Marta Kostyuk on Djokovic’s fans
Ukrainian player Marta Kostyuk has already spoken out about Novak Djokovic’s father’s case on social media.
Subsequently, she even gave a press conference where she lamented what happened without adding fuel to the fire. Well almost… “Whatever I say, I’m going to be hated for the rest of my life, especially by Novak fans, who are very aggressive.
People know this, not everyone, but Novak has very aggressive fans. I know this because I experienced it in the past and received a lot of hate, especially from Serbian fans.” Tennis journalist Jon Wertheim heaped praise on Novak Djokovic for his recent performances at the 2023 Australian Open.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. I would even go beyond tennis. He’s playing as well as ever and I’m basing this on the last six or seven sets he’s played. I don’t know if he’s ever played better, some of that statistical or eye test, he’s 35 years old and he does an extraordinary job keeping himself in shape,” said the journalist.
“There’s a lot breaking right, but just from a precise tennis standpoint, the idea he’s going to be 36 years old in a few months and not only is he not declining but he beat the No. 5 in the world like he was a junior the other day. I can’t see a scenario in which Djokovic doesn’t win this event,” he added.
