Novak Djokovic Targets Another Decade On The Tour - UBITENNIS
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Novak Djokovic Targets Another Decade On The Tour

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Novak Djokovic (zimbio.com)

A lengthy elbow injury has failed to derail Novak Djokovic from his future aspirations on the tour.

The 30-year-old hasn’t played a competitive match since Wimbledon after doctors advised him to end his season. Djokovic has been struggling with an elbow injury in recent months, which was made worse by ‘excessive playing.’ Since officially ending his 2017 campaign, Djokovic is yet to lift a racket. During an exclusive interview with SportKlub, he admits that pain continues to be a problem.

“I’m trying to be in shape, I do not play tennis because the elbow still hurts. I have worked a lot on fitness, I work every day, I try to be in shape.” Said Djokovic.
“I miss the competition, but not to the extent that I do not know what else I will do. I have many beautiful things that are happening to me right now, the most beautiful thing is that Jelena and I two weeks ago became parents the second time.” He added.

With his sights set on a January return, Djokovic is gradually increasing his fitness training. Earlier this week he uploaded a video of him conducting a morning workout outside in Belgrade.

Morning workouts by the river.. ‍♂ Love being here!! #Belgrade

A post shared by Novak Djokovic (@djokernole) on

Six months away from the tour appears to be a long time, but not with Djokovic’s thinking. When he returns, he aims to emulate his rival Roger Federer by playing late into his career. Federer had previously credited his six-month injury layoff in 2016 for his surge this year. Something Djokovic hopes to also achieve.

“I’m glad that I have these six months that I can in some way organize my life, to lay the foundations for my game and for my body and for my life in the next I do not know how many years.“ He explained.

As how how long he plans to stay around for is unknown, but Djokovic has outlined an ambitious target. To continue playing for another ten years until the age of 40. Currently the oldest player in the world’s top 100 is 38-year-old Ivo Karlovic.

“‘I’d like to say 10 years, so we’ll see how long I will last in professional tennis. I really have no fixed plans, nor is the end in sight. I still want to play, to prove myself and others. Just to move the boundaries, to perfect myself. I believe that, as far as I have achieved in tennis, so far, I have much more to do and perfect.”

So far in Djokovic’s career he has won 68 titles on the ATP Tour. This includes 30 Masters 1000 and 12 grand slam trophies. Despite the impressive collection, the former world No.1 is still eager to improve his game further with the help of his team. Yesterday it was confirmed that Andre Agassi will continue to coach Djokovic in 2018.

“I see the elements of the game in which I see plenty of room for improvement.” Admitted Djokovic. “Perhaps others do not see it, but I see, it’s nice that my team sees it, so there is room to devote to analysing my game.”

It is yet to be confirmed where the 30-year-old will start his comeback. Recently it has been reported that the 12-time grand slam champion has opted to skip Doha in order to play events in Australia ahead of the first grand slam of the season.

“For the first time in my life, I have five months when I can gradually raise the level and fitness and games, and to be mentally change for when I enter the new season, I hope to be at me peak.” He concluded.

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Elena Rybakina beats Victoria Azarenka to reach her fourth final of the season at the Miami Open

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Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4 0-6 7-6 (7-2) in the semifinal of the Miami Open to reach her fourth final of the season. 

Rybakina has improved to 4-0 in her head-to-head matches against Azarenka and has a seasonal record of 22 wins to 3 defeats. 

Both players were not able to convert their early break points in the opening set. 

Azarenka saved four break points in the first game to hold serve after three deuces. Rybakina fended off two break points in the sixth game. 

Rybakina earned the first break of the match in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. Azarenka earned a break point in the eighth game, but she was not able to convert it. Rybakina served out the first set with a hold at love. 

Azarenka broke three times to race through to a bagel win in the second set. The three-time Miami Open champion dropped just two points on serve in the second set. She made a double faul on one of these points. 

Rybakina stopped Azarenka’s seven-game streak by holding serve to draw level to 1-1 in the third set. Rybakina earned her fifth break point in the fifth game with a backhand pass, as Azarenka was serving at 2-2, and converted her chance to take a 3-2 lead, when Azarenka hit a backhand into the net. Rybakina consolidated the break by holding serve to take a 4-2 lead. Rybakina fended off a break point with her 10th ace, as she was serving for the match at 5-4, but Azarenka earned a second break point after a long baseline exchange. Azarenka converted her break point when Rybakina volleyed into the net. Rybakina earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2. 

Rybakina won two titles in Brisbane and Abu Dhabi and reached her first WTA 1000 final of the season in Doha on hard court. 

Last year the Kazakh player won in Indian Wells and was a win away from winning the Sunshine Double in the Miami Open final, where she lost to Petra Kvitova 7-6 (16-14) 6-2. 

Rybakina is just the third player in the last ten years to reach back to back Miami finals following Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty. 

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Alexander Zverev beats Fabian Maroszan to reach the semifinal in Miami

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Alexander Zverev beat Fabian Maroszan 6-3 7-5 to reach his third semifinal of the 2024 season at the Miami Open. 

Zverev will face the winner of the quarter final match between this year’s Indian Wells champion Carlos Alcaraz and 11 seed Grigor Dimitrov. Zverev reached the final at the Miami Open in 2018. 

Should Alcaraz beats Dimitrov, the Spanish player would meet Zverev for the second time this month. Alcaraz beat Zverev 6-3 6-1 in the quarter finals at Indian Wells. 

Zverev won 80% of his first serve points and saved the only two break points he faced. The German player committed just 10 unforced errors to Maroszan’s 23. 

Zverev converted his fourth break point in the third game of the first set and held serve at 15 to take a 3-1 lead. The 2021 German player saved a break point in the sixth game keepin a one-break lead. He closed out the first set 6-3 with a double break at 30.

Maroszan saved a break point in the second game of the second set to hold serve at love for 1-1. Zverev fended off a break point in the fifth game to hold serve after two deuces for 3-2. Both players held on serve until the 12th game. Zverev was leading 6-5 when Maroszan served to send the second set into the tie-break. The Hungarian player earned two game points, but he did not convert his chances. 

Zverev broke serve after two deuces on his first match point to seal the second set 7-5. 

“I love Miami. I always said that. I am happy to be back in these late stages of these tournaments, playing the best players in the world. I think there are only those left. I am looking forward to the challenge. If Maroszan keeps playing like that, he’s going to rise up the rankings very quickly. He always rushes you. I think when all players feel like they are in control, they feel like they manage the match and play the match a little bit in their own favour and against him, it’s not possible. That’s why he has such a great top 10 record of 4-2. He is an unbelievable player”, said Zverev. 

Maroszan was playing in his second quarter final at Masters 1000 level after reaching this stage in Shanghai in 2023. The Hungarian player has moved up 19 spots to a career-high of number 38 in the ATP Live Rankings. He will become the Hungarian player to reach the top 50 in the ATP Ranking. Earlier this tournament he claimed two top 10 wins over Holger Rune and Alex De Minaur. 

Zverev is aiming his sixth Masters 1000 title and his first trophy in the series since Cincinnati 2021. 

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Ekaterina Alexandrova upsets Jessica Pegula to reach the semifinal at the Miami Open

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World number 16 Ekaterina Alexandrova came back from one set down to upset Jessica Pegula 3-6 6-4 6-4 in 1 hour and 58 minutes reaching the semifinals at the Miami Open.

Alexandrova has drawn level to 1-1 in her head-to-head matches against Pegula. 

Alexandrova beat top 5 players In back-to-back matches for the first time in her career with her wins over world number 1 Iga Swiatek and Pegula. In her previous two rounds of the Miami Open she had defeated Donna Vekic and Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova. 

Alexandrova also beat 2022 Elena Rybakina in Adelaide last January and has the most wins in 2024 against players ranked in the top 5. She has a record of 6 wins to 17 defeats against top 5 players in her career.   

Pegula won four consecutive games from 2-3 down with two breaks to seal the first set 6-3. Alexandrova fought back breaking serve in the first game of the second set. The Russian player went up a double break in the seventh game to open up a 5-2 lead. Pegula pulled one break back in the eighth game for 3-5. Alexandrova served out the second set at love to force the match to the decider. 

Alexandrova earned an early break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Pegula broke straight back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3, when Alexandrova double faulted on her fourth break point. Pegula held serve in the seventh game after a fantastic rally, but Alexandrova earned the decisive break, when Pegula went long with her backhand return on the second break point. Alexandrova held serve on her second match point and fell to her knees in joy.  

“It was extremely difficult for me because Pegula played amazing. In the third set, there were sometimes the kind of rallies where I could not understand how it was possible to return that ball, but it always came back. I just tried to play every single point like I knew she was going to be everywhere, so I need to do something and I was trying to wait and use any opportunities that I got”, said Alexandrova. 

Alexandrova set up a semifinal against Danielle Collins, the last remaining US player. It will be the first head-to-head match between Alexandrova and Collins.  

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