Djokovic gets past Raonic for 4th straight French Open semifinals - UBITENNIS
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Djokovic gets past Raonic for 4th straight French Open semifinals

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TENNIS FRENCH OPEN – Novak Djokovic remains on course for another French Open final and a possible showdown between him and 8-time champion Rafael Nadal if the top seeds stay true to form. Djokovic took on Milos Raonic for a place in the semifinal and like he did two weeks ago in Rome, Djokovic battled hard against the Canadian to come out unscathed in three sets, 7-5 7-6(5) 6-4. Cordell Hackshaw

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Novak Djokovic (2) remains on course for another French Open final and a possible showdown between him and 8-time champion Rafael Nadal (1) if the top seeds stay true to form. Djokovic took on Milos Raonic (8) for a place in the semifinal and like he did two weeks ago in Rome, Djokovic battled hard against the Canadian to come out unscathed in three sets, 7-5 7-6(5) 6-4. In a match that hardly saw either player gaining any real momentum and holding serve became paramount, Djokovic showed that he is both patient and resourceful in the big moments. He makes no illusion about wanting this title and with this win, he has put himself one set closer to taking the crown and with it a career slam.

Things got under way with both men holding serve with relative ease with Djokovic being the opening server. Raonic was using his big serve to get himself into the forecourt whereas Djokovic did battle from the back of the court and the baseline. Djokovic saved a break point during the 7th game to get to 4-3 and had a set/break point on Raonic’s serve during the 10th game at 5-4. Two successive big serves by Raonic erased any hopes of Djokovic taking the set then and it was even at 5-5. Djokovic held for 6-5 and forced Raonic to serve to stay in the set once again. Raonic rained down his massive serves but somehow Djokovic was able to get most of the returns in. Raonic then found it difficult to keep the balls in play and the 1st set ended when his backhand volley missed its mark. Djokovic took it 7-5.

Both men continued to serve exceptionally as neither player saw a break point in the 2nd set. Even in decisive tiebreaker, the server was mostly having it his way. Through to the first 9 points, the server won the point with Djokovic leading 5-4. However, it would be just be the minibreak that would make the difference as Raonic dumped his forehand into the net during the 10th point giving Djokovic the edge 6-4. Raonic won the next point 6-5 but he could not put Djokovic’s serve out wide back into play and saw the Serbian take a 2 sets to love lead 7-5 7-6(5).

This lead proved to be the decisive factor as Djokovic got the read on the Raonic’s serve and began breaking him at will. The Canadian was broken twice to see the match go well out of his reach as Djokovic had a 5-1 lead. Raonic held for 2-5 allowing Djokovic to serve for the match. However, the Canadian was still willing to fight and broke the Djokovic serve for the first time in the match. He gave himself extra life by holding serve at 4-5 and let Djokovic try to serve it out again. Djokovic rarely makes the same mistake twice and he closed out the match 7-5 7-6 6-4 in 2 hours and 22 minutes. “Even though it was a straight set win, few points here and there kind of decided the winner….I knew that he’s going to serve and I’m not going to have many opportunities, but when I do have them, I should use them. I have done well.” said Djokovic after the match.

Raonic compared his experience of facing Djokovic in Paris as opposed to in Rome a few weeks ago; “[H]e was playing a lot closer to the baseline….[H]e was not letting me dictate as much as I was able to in Rome. He was opening up a little bit more with his backhand down the line, where I felt I put more pressure on him in Rome where he wasn’t able to use that as much. I think that’s where I was struggling, so to get on top of him in that sense. My serve kept it close for most of those moments.” As noted, both men served brilliantly with Djokovic winning 75% of his first serve and Raonic 79% of his. The main difference of the day would have to be the 2nd serve and the error count. Djokovic won 74% of his 2nd serve and committed 19 errors whereas Raonic could only muster 29% on his 2nd serve with 40 errors and eventually proved to be closely for the Canadian. Djokovic will face Ernests Gulbis (18) in the semifinals and had this to say on the matter, “He’s been playing really well, he’s confident. But again, I like my chances because I have had now couple of great weeks on the clay courts from Rome to now last ten days here in Roland Garros.”

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Alcaraz Halts Sinner’s Winning Streak To Reach The Final In Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz earns the right to defend his title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells fending off Jannik Sinner’s assault to his ATP no. 2 spot

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Jannik Sinner (left) and Carlos Alcaraz (right) - Indian Wells 2024 (photo Twitter X @BNPPARIBASOPEN)

All good things come to an end. Jannik Sinner was on a 19-match winning streak since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Nitto ATP Finals that included his first Grand Slam win in Australia last January, and appeared as the most in-form player at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season. But as he faced Carlos Alcaraz in an eagerly-awaited semifinal, he was unable to continue his quest for the third consecutive title of the season, succumbing to the Spaniard 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The match was a face-off for the no. 2 spot in the ATP ranking that Alcaraz will still occupy next Monday regardless of the result of Sunday’s final, and this is a much-needed confidence boost for him after a disappointing start of the season where he was handily beaten in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open by Zverev and did not win any tournament during the South American clay court swing where he was ousted by Nicolas Jarry in Buenos Aires and had to retire for an ankle injury at the Rio Open.

The match, originally scheduled for 1.30 pm Pacific Time, had to be suspended for over three hours after only three games because of an unusual downpour. As the match resumed, Sinner appeared once again the perfectly-tuned machine that had been crushing opponents with metronomic regularity for the past weeks while Alcaraz was struggling to keep up with his opponent’s pace from the baseline.

The first set was smooth sailing for the Italian who cruised to a comprehensive 6-1 in 27 minutes: Alcaraz was tentative from the baseline and could not find the right position to fire his screamers and change the tactical discourse of the match. “Then at the beginning of the second set, as I saw he was making a lot of mistakes, I tried to be as solid as possible when I should have kept pushing instead – Sinner said during his press conference – and that’s what cost me the match in the end”.

While serving at 1-2 in the second set, a few uncharacteristic forehand mistakes started to dot his thus far spotless game, and that cost him the break that sent Alcaraz flying to a 4-1 advantage. The Spaniard then found the confidence to change his return position and make Sinner work a lot more on his service games, as the Italian struggled to find a countermeasure to the tactical shift in the match: “I kept doing the same thing over and over again”, Sinner stressed, and forehand unforced errors started to pile up to reach the burdensome number of 27 at the end of the match.

Sinner had the chance to find his way back into the second set while Alcaraz was serving at 3-5, but Carlos cancelled his break point with a laser backhand down the line that had the 15,000-strong crowd cheering on their feet.

The third set ran away very quickly from the Italian, who started touching repeatedly the back of his left leg around his knee. Sinner got broken again during the third game, and while going for a last-ditch attempt to recover a short volley by Alcaraz he tumbled to the ground slightly injuring his right elbow and arm. From there onwards it was just more mistakes by Sinner and a clinical execution by Alcaraz on how to take home a match.

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“It Feels Great’ – Novak Djokovic Marks Indian Wells Return With Milestone Win

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Novak Djokovic - Indian Wells 2024 (foto Ubitennis)

Novak Djokovic says he still has a ‘great feeling’ in Indian Wells after playing his first match at the event for five years. 

The world No.1 battled to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, win over Aleksandar Vukic in what was his first taste of competitive tennis since losing in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. It was a far from smooth encounter for Djokovic, who hit 23 winners and won 83% of his first service points. In the second set, he was broken twice with the second of those occurring when he was serving at 5-6. Nevertheless, he battled back in the decider to win. 

This year is the first time Djokovic has been able to play in the Masters 1000 event since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the 2020 tournament was cancelled, he was unable to play the next three editions due to restrictions placed on unvaccinated foreign visitors to America. Despite the absence, the five-time champion states that his love for the event is as strong as ever.

“It feels great to come back with the win. It’s been five years and the great feeling is still there. I enjoyed myself very much. Beautiful stadium. Great atmosphere.” Djokovic said during his press conference. 
“I was a bit nervous at the beginning. I haven’t played a match in more than five weeks. I thought the start was good. Then I think he upped his game.
“I probably lost a little bit of the momentum. We got into the third set, I thought the level of the tennis was pretty good in the third. Great points. He made me produce some really important points in games in order to prevail in this match. I’m glad that I was pushed, as well, which is important.”

Djokovic’s latest victory is his 400th in a Masters 1000 tournament. He is only the second player in history to have reached this milestone since the tournament category was introduced in 1990. The first to do so was Rafael Nadal who currently has 406 wins to his name. 

He could create more history in Indian Wells should the Serbian go on to claim the title this year. If he does, he would become the first man to have won it for a sixth time. Although Djokovic is refusing to get too far ahead of himself. 

“I would love to,” he said of trying to claim a sixth title. “Obviously there is still a long way to get to the title match, but it’s a good start.’
“I know I can always produce better tennis. Obviously very self-critical, and I think some extent it’s also important because then it puts you in the right mindset of wanting to work more and being engaged in the process of improving on a daily basis, or trying to perfect your game and right the wrongs that you’ve done in a previous match or previous practice session.
“So that’s what I’m going to keep doing and hopefully building my game as this tournament is played over 10 to 14 days, so it allows you to have the practice days also between matches, which then allows you to work on certain specifics in the game.”

Djokovic will play Italy’s Luca Nardi in the next round. 

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Carlos Alcaraz Brushes Aside Injury Doubts To Reach Indian Wells Third Round

Carlos Alcaraz is into the third round at Indian Wells after a three set win over Matteo Arnaldi.

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(@BNPPARIBASOPEN - Twitter)

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame injury doubts to edge past Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5) 6-0 6-1 at Indian Wells.

The world number two had to endure an aggressive opening set from the in-form Italian to reach the third round.

After a tight opening set, Alcaraz raced through the last two sets as he set up a third round showdown with Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Spaniard had entered this match with injury doubts after retiring from his match with Thiago Monteiro in Rio De Janeiro.

However Alcaraz was very pleased with how his ankle held up as he moved on in California, “Honestly it surprised me. I felt great, moving normally without thinking about it,” Alcaraz told the ATP website.

“It was a really good match to realise that I am better than I thought. I think I played great tennis because of that. I had to change just a few things. I made a few mistakes in the first set… I had to put in more first serves in the second and third set, and I think that was a big key to improving my level a little bit, to be in the rallies — long rallies as well, to get the rhythm, and I’m really happy to get it at the end.

“But right now I’m getting better and feeling really, really well. But I think I have to get a good rhythm step by step. I think that’s the big difference between last year and this one. This [is a] really special tournament for me. I want to do it well. This is the first match playing high intensity and I didn’t know how it’s going respond, the ankle.

“I have to deal with it, but I didn’t deal with the nerves very well in the first set, moving differently, hitting the ball differently. My game is playing aggressive all the time. And try to stay calm and wait for my chances.

“When you get nervous, you don’t think about it. You don’t hit the ball as good as you want. You don’t move as good as you want. I think that’s the big difference.”

Alcaraz will hope for a good week this week as he defends the Indian Wells title as he aims to win a first title since Wimbledon this week.

Next for the Spaniard will be Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Constant Lestienne in straight sets.

Auger-Aliassime currently leads the head-to-head 3-1 but Alcaraz won their last meeting in Indian Wells last year.

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