Roland-Garros 2023 - Novak Djokovic : "Of course I want to dominate any opponent, no matter what, sometimes it works, other times it doesn't !"
Ce lundi, Novak Djokovic lançait sa quête d'un 23e tournoi du Grand Chelem à Roland-Garros contre un joueur qu'il connaît bien, l'Américain d'origine serbe Aleksandar Kovacevic, qu'il a eu l'occasion d'entraîner. Actuellement n°3 mondial, le Serbe est apparu en bonne forme et s'est logiquement imposé en trois sets, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(1). Auteur de 41 coups gagnants, Nole a globalement réalisé une belle performance, malgré les deux breaks concédés dans la troisième manche. Son prochain adversaire sera le Hongrois Marton Fucsovics.
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00:00 It is often said that tennis is an individual sport,
00:04 but it is never more beautiful than when it is collective.
00:09 BNP Paribas, faithful to tomorrow's tennis for 50 years.
00:15 I'm going to ask you to reflect upon your memory a bit.
00:18 This one goes way back to 2003, more than half your life ago,
00:22 but it was here at the Juniors where you made your Grand Slam debut, I believe.
00:25 I'm doing a piece on the Juniors and wanted to know if you have any reflections on that year.
00:30 It was a pretty crazy draw with two other Grand Slam champions in the future,
00:34 Stan and Andy, also Gael Monfils, Joe Sanga.
00:37 Just wondering if you had any thoughts and remembrances of that specific event.
00:41 Yes, I do. Thank you for shining the light on Juniors.
00:46 It's important to write about them as well and to give them even more attention
00:53 and incentive to keep pushing and working their way towards professional tennis.
00:59 We all have played in the Junior circuit to some extent, some more, some less.
01:06 I qualified for Roland Garros Junior event in 2003
01:11 and I think I lost in the third round to Gimeno Traver, if I'm not mistaken,
01:17 who is a coach of Bautista Good right now.
01:21 It's kind of an interesting cycle of life in a way, seeing some familiar faces.
01:28 As you mentioned, some great names in the draw at that point.
01:33 I don't know who won it in the end, was it Almagro or Wawrinka?
01:37 Stan won it.
01:39 He won the Senior Roland Garros as well.
01:43 For Juniors, Grand Slams as well as for Seniors are equally important,
01:51 the most important tournaments that you are aiming for as a Junior
01:56 because that's where you have an opportunity to present yourself
02:01 to eventually someone that can sponsor you or can manage you.
02:06 They're very important events not just for results but just recognition
02:10 and getting your name out there on the stage.
02:13 It's where the biggest amount of managers in sports come together and agencies
02:18 and you're hoping that someone can approach you and offer something to you
02:23 and all the help that is so needed for a lot of the Junior guys
02:28 to make their life a bit easier towards the professional tennis.
02:33 Hi, Novak.
02:37 I want to ask you about what your approach is like going into a match like today
02:43 against someone like Alexander who you know is a young guy,
02:48 might be a little in awe of the stage, in awe of you,
02:53 someone who looked up to you as a kid making his Grand Slam debut.
02:57 How do you go into a match like that and is there a part of you that thinks,
03:01 "All right, let me get on him early and sort of show him who I am
03:05 and what this really is all about"?
03:08 Well, credit to Alex.
03:11 He played very well, especially in the third set,
03:15 in the second part of the third set,
03:18 and made me work for my victory in the third set.
03:22 He's a very nice guy.
03:24 We practiced with each other a few times,
03:27 actually during the US Open some years ago.
03:30 We speak the same language.
03:33 He has a Serbian background, so we get along really well.
03:37 I met his family, very nice people.
03:40 He's trying his best, and I think he's got the game.
03:44 He's got the game, no doubt, to go far.
03:48 How far, it depends on various things.
03:52 But I was pleasantly surprised with his level,
03:57 considering he hasn't played maybe that much on clay.
04:00 I saw somewhere that he said that he was training in Serbia
04:05 until he was around 10 years old, 11 years old, on clay,
04:08 because most of our courts are on clay in Serbia.
04:11 But later on, he went to the States, and he spent most of his time on hard court.
04:15 So he played really well, and he was handling himself very good there,
04:21 mentally hanging in there.
04:23 I served for the match. He broke me.
04:25 So credit to him for fighting spirit.
04:29 Of course, I want to dominate whoever I play against,
04:35 regardless of the circumstances and who is across the net.
04:39 But sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
04:42 I think I played really well and held things under control for 2 1/2 sets,
04:46 and then I lost my serve, and things got a little bit on the wrong side for me.
04:54 But I managed to hold my nerves and played pretty much a perfect high break.
04:59 So overall, pleased and content with my level.
05:03 I can always play better. I know I can do it.
05:06 But considering also the conditions that were quite tricky today with a lot of wind,
05:11 it was a good match.
05:14 Hi, Novak. Sorry, this is slightly off topic, but I want to take you back as well.
05:19 It's 10 years this year since you played Andy in the Wimbledon final,
05:23 and I just wanted to get your recollections of that day
05:26 and what it was like playing him on centre court.
05:29 Can I answer that during the Wimbledon? No, I'm kidding.
05:33 It was not a great result for me, obviously, in the end.
05:41 It was painful to lose a Grand Slam final, especially a Wimbledon final.
05:45 But in the end of the day, I was happy for Andy because he deserved it.
05:50 He was working so hard to get his hands on the Wimbledon title,
05:56 and he has two, and the first one against me in 2012, as you mentioned.
06:05 Sorry, 2013.
06:08 It was a straight set win, I remember.
06:11 I didn't play at my best, but it was also due to his level of tennis that was very, very solid.
06:20 He just outplayed me on the day.
06:23 Of course, he had the entire nation behind his back.
06:27 Great Britain got the winner of Wimbledon after 77 years.
06:34 I was happy for him because we got along very well throughout entire careers.
06:41 We've known each other for so long.
06:43 But for me, of course, losing a match wasn't a perfect sensation afterwards.
06:48 But again, I had to congratulate him because he was a better player that day.
06:54 It was a perfect scenario for Great Britain
06:57 and for him as a British player to win in Wimbledon on centre court.