In his quest to reclaim his title, seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic is worried about the challenge posed by rising Australian Alexei Popyrin. The 24-time grand slam winner, who continues to sound unhappy about his form while recovering from knee surgery four weeks ago, thinks Popyrin is developing into a complete player.
When the two battled at the Australian Open in January, Djokovic won in four sets, but only after the powerful serve of Popyrin had given him a 2-1 lead.
After working a bit to overcome British Jacob Fearnley’s strong fight, Djokovic is not happy with his level. He expressed his thoughts about it and said: “I do feel that has an impact on my movement a little bit in terms of the speed. It’s not yet there where I want it to be. I’m kind of late on the balls that I’m normally not late on.”
Djokovic was asked about his knee by a reporter after the match: “You’re probably bored of people asking about your knee but how are you feeling.”
Djokovic replied: “I was feeling ok. Feeling alright. Don’t wanna be looking for any excuses for the performance today. Credit to Jacob. On my side, I should’ve done things better in the 3rd when I was a breakup. Very swirly conditions today.. physically I felt well. Can I be playing better and moving better? Absolutely. I hope as the tournament progresses I’ll be feeling better each day.”
Djokovic on beating Fearnley at Wimbledon
“You’re probably bored of people asking about your knee.. but how are you feeling!”
Novak: “I was feeling ok. Feeling alright. Don’t wanna be looking for any excuses of the performance today. Credit to Jacob. On my side, I should’ve… pic.twitter.com/ExRhWGYDxW
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 4, 2024
Djokovic in Wimbledon, ranking, and results in 2024
WWWWWWWWLW At the moment ranked no.2, Novak achieved a composed 20-6 record in 2024. Djokovic is participating in Wimbledon where he ousted the world no.123 Vit Kopriva 6-1 6-2 6-2 and the world no.277 Jacob Fearnley 6-3 6-4 5-7 7-5.
Novak Djokovic will square off with the world no.47 Alexei Popyrin in the 3rd round. Their record is 2-0 for Djokovic.
Novak won 98 titles in his career: 52 on hard courts, 19 on clay courts, 19 on indoor courts and 8 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Djokovic has scheduled to compete next in Montreal (National Bank Open). He will begin to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 5th of August.
Popyrin in Wimbledon, ranking, and results in 2024
LWWLWWLWLL Now the world no.47, Popyrin has achieved a compiled 14-11 record in 2024. Alexei is now playing in Wimbledon where he ousted the world no.86 Thiago Moura Monteiro 6-4 6-7(8) 6-3 6-4, the world no.31 Tomas Martin Etcheverry 3-6 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3 and the world no.2 Novak Djokovic .
Alexei Popyrin will square off with the world no.2 Novak Djokovic in the 3rd round. Their current head to head is 2-0 for Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic and Alexei Popyrin squared off only on 2 occasions. Their actual head to head record is 2-0 for Djokovic. The last time they locked horns, Novak Djokovic won 6-3 4-6 7-6(4) 6-3 in the 2nd round in Melbourne (Australian Open) on the 17th of January 2024.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.
