Novak Djokovic n'en a pas fini d'écrire l'histoire. Pas seulement la sienne, mais aussi celle du tennis en général. Vendredi, le Serbe a écarté Lorenzo Musetti (n°25) en demi-finale de Wimbledon, rejoignant ainsi sa 37e finale en Grand Chelem, la 10e à Londres. Une performance inédite. Dimanche, il retrouvera Carlos Alcaraz en finale pour un remake de la finale 2023. Djokovic se souvient de "l'enfant de 7 ans qui voyait les bombes voler en Serbie" il y a une trentaine d'années, et "profite" de chaque instant passé sur le court aujourd'hui.
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00:00Surreal in a way because, I mean, it has always been a childhood favourite tournament, so
00:10I keep on repeating that, but I also remind myself not to take anything for granted, particularly
00:15when you play finals of the most important tennis tournament in the history of this sport.
00:19So yeah, coming into Wimbledon really before the tournament, I wasn't sure until maybe
00:26three or four days before the tournament whether I'm going to take part in it.
00:32Made an extra effort to recover as quickly as possible just because it was Wimbledon,
00:37so I'm really, really happy to make the finals because I was not thinking about, particularly
00:46in the first couple of matches of the eventual title match, I was just thinking about moving
00:52well, not injuring myself, to be honest, and feeling more free, so to say, in my movement.
01:01And that's what happened, I think, in the third and particularly fourth round.
01:04I felt like, OK, I'm actually playing close to my best and I can have a shot at the title.
01:10Novak, Sunday could be the best sporting day for England in 58 years.
01:16We're all hoping Gareth Southgate does it against Spain.
01:19Brings it home.
01:21We're hoping he brings it home.
01:23He brings it home, yeah.
01:24But before that, you could break the heart of a young Spanish yourself on that sense of thought.
01:28Do you relish that prospect and do you think the crowd will be rooting for you given that
01:32you are playing someone from Spain?
01:36Well, I think that the English crowd will have best of both worlds because I think the
01:43finals is at night, so we're starting I think at two, so they'll have plenty of time to
01:49enjoy the tennis and football as well.
01:52And I think Wimbledon finals is probably the most watched tennis match in the entire year
01:58in the world.
02:00So not only England, but I'm sure that a lot of people around the world will follow it.
02:05And it adds more to the, I guess, to the importance of the match.
02:11And I'm not sure if I'm going to break his heart.
02:16I'm not intending to do that.
02:18I think he's so young, but still has three already Grand Slams under his belt and going
02:24for his fourth.
02:27He surprised, I think, all of us last year, the way he played in Queens and Wimbledon,
02:34which he won back to back.
02:36And you would think that for someone growing up in Spain, as he did, the way he's playing
02:44clay court Grand Slam win, which happened this year in Roland Garros and US Open a few
02:48years ago was maybe not as surprising as Wimbledon, but the way he has moved, played in the last
02:57couple of years on grass has been terrific to watch, to be honest.
03:03I think I see a lot of similarities between me and him in terms of ability to adapt and
03:09adjust to the surface.
03:12I think that's probably his biggest trait, is that he's got skills to play equally well
03:19on any surface and to adapt to a given opponent that's the particular day.
03:25So he's a very all round player, very complete player, impressive what he has done for such
03:31a young age.
03:33And I said on the court, which I think probably all of us share the same opinion that he's
03:38going to win many slams in his career.
03:42And I hope he's going to give me this one in two days and then let's see after that
03:47I'll cheer for him.
03:48Matt?
03:49Hey Novak, I think a lot of us, me included, thought you were a little crazy and a little
03:53reckless a couple of weeks ago when you were embarking on this.
03:56Does it give you extra satisfaction to keep proving people wrong, whether it's doctors,
04:05idiot journalists like me, things like that?
04:09Not really.
04:10I don't want to prove people wrong.
04:13I was really focused on trying to make Wimbledon happen for me this year.
04:20And I was not reckless in any day.
04:25Reckless means that I was going against the medical experts that were leading the rehab
04:30process.
04:31And I was never against that.
04:32I never pushed anything.
04:35So once we started a rehab, I followed every single day everything that they said that
04:43I have to do.
04:45And I did even more than that, I think, in terms of trying to make an effort for Wimbledon
04:53to come back.
04:54And they were aware of it.
04:56But we agreed that we will not talk about my guaranteed Wimbledon participation until
05:04three, four days before the tournament starts.
05:08So until we get to London, until I test my knee on the court, until I pray the practice
05:13sets, until I really test my knee and see how it reacts.
05:17So everything that we've done in the process of 20 plus days has been giving us a positive
05:24indication and signal.
05:25So yeah, I mean, I understand why people were thinking it's premature, it's maybe reckless
05:35as you use that term.
05:37But I don't think it was, to be honest.
05:39I mean, I just followed what they were saying, that they were evaluating in terms of my knee
05:46and how it was on a daily basis, reacting to the load of the exercises that they were
05:53putting me on.
05:55And I keep on mentioning him, but let's not forget Taylor Fritz.
06:00He was in the same situation and he had even less days than I had.
06:04He came back after 21 days exactly after his surgery and played three rounds in Wimbledon,
06:10four five-setter, four-setter, five-setter and four-setter.
06:13So it was great.
06:16I think, for me, it was really encouraging knowing that there was already someone like
06:21him who has been through pretty much the same situation.
06:26And he was, as I said, kind enough to share his journey.
06:29And that gave me even more confidence that I can make it.
06:32He didn't make the final, though.
06:36But well, he didn't make the finals, but he lost a tight four-setter in the third round
06:42against Werner.
06:43But I didn't know if I'm going to make the finals, of course.
06:50But I did say before the tournament that I'm going to play only if I really feel that
06:56I can go deep in the tournament, meaning that I can compete with the best guys.
07:01The first couple rounds, maybe I wasn't moving as well and I was still finding that freedom
07:08to move, so to say.
07:09And then third, fourth round, particularly onwards, I felt like, OK, I'm not thinking
07:16about the knee.
07:17I'm going to be playing free and I'm playing as good as I can.
07:20Valde?
07:2137 days from the surgery, 37 finals on Sunday, Muzetti just said that out of the seven matches
07:36that he played with you, this was by far the best for him and for you.
07:41I would like to know if you agree and if you think that he would have probably beaten 90%
07:47of the other players if he was playing somebody else.
07:56Well I cannot speak about how he felt on the court or how he was playing, he obviously
08:04knows better, but I thought that I maybe did not play my best.
08:11At certain moments I played very good, but I think I played probably at the level that
08:16is good enough to win in straight sets.
08:18I don't think I played my best tennis, to be honest.
08:21Your best is here.
08:25I would say I played better against Rooney, to be honest, I felt better on the court.
08:30But again, it was a different matchup.
08:32It was Muzetti who was in good form, playing finals of Queens and now semis and doesn't
08:39have anything to lose, first time in semis of Slam and he's an awkward player to play
08:45against because he has that slice, defense slice, he's drop shots, he can serve and volley,
08:51he's so crafty with his tennis, I mean he's got all-round game, really can play any shot,
08:57he's so talented.
08:59And you don't know what to expect in a way, each shot could be different.
09:05So yeah, I mean he was playing very well, particularly in that second set and we went
09:10toe-to-toe.
09:12It could have been maybe a different outcome if he would have won that second set.
09:18But again, I think in the important moments in all three sets, I probably played a little
09:24bit better than him and it was enough.
09:26I just wondered what it would mean to you to equal Roger Fenton's record and win 8 Wimbledon's
09:35and also I noticed that Gareth Bale was in your box the other day supporting you.
09:39I just wondered if you can talk a bit about your friendship with him and also is he coming
09:43back on Sunday to support you again because obviously he won't be watching the England game.
09:52I mean, obviously I'm aware that Roger holds 8 Wimbledon's, I hold 7.
09:59You know, history is on the line, also the 25th potential Grand Slam and of course it
10:07serves as a great motivation but at the same time it's also a lot of pressure and expectations.
10:13Every time I step out on the court, now even though I'm 37 and competing with a 21-year-old,
10:20I still expect myself to win most of the matches and people expect me to win 99% of the matches
10:27that I play.
10:28So I always have to come out on the court and perform my best in order to still be at
10:34the level with Carlos or Yannick or Sasha or any of those guys, Daniel.
10:41And this year hasn't been that successful for me, you know, it's probably the weakest
10:48results the first six months I've had in many years and that's okay, you know, I had to
10:56adopt and accept that and really try to find also a way out from the injury that I had
11:02and kind of regroup and Wimbledon, historically, there's been seasons where I wasn't maybe
11:10playing on the desired level but then I would win a Wimbledon title and then things would
11:15change.
11:17For example, there was a case in 2018 when I had an elbow surgery earlier in the year,
11:24you know, dropped my rankings out of the top 20, you know, losing in the fourth round
11:32of the Australian Open.
11:33I think it was quarters of Rowan Garrison just not playing the tennis that I want to
11:37play and then I won Wimbledon and then I won the US Open and then, you know, later on became
11:42number one very soon.
11:44So it's, yeah, Wimbledon just extracts the best of me, you know, and motivates me to
11:53really always show up and perform the best I can.
11:57Of course, I'm aware of what's on the line, it always is, really, I mean, any grandstand
12:02that I play, there's always history now on the line.
12:07I will try to use that as a fuel to, yeah, to play my best tennis and Gareth is, I can
12:14call him a friend now, you know, we've known each other before, I mean, I've of course
12:18followed his career closely when he was playing for Real Madrid and, you know, being one of
12:24the best players in the world and admired him a lot and not just for his football skills,
12:29but also his personality.
12:30I think he's really one of the nicest athletes that I've met in terms of character and personality
12:38and a really humble guy, loves his golf.
12:41That's where we actually connected more last year, the Ryder Cup all-star match that we
12:46played together and, yeah, he was giving me some tips for golf, we had the dinner there
12:53and we spent a few days together and that's, I think, where we, you know, we developed
12:58a nice relationship.
12:59So, I invited him to come and, of course, I'll invite him again.
13:03I don't know if he's going to watch the England match later on, I'm not going to comment on
13:07that but I hope he's, yeah, he's always in my corner and that he can come and watch and support.
13:16We'll just take one more in English there.
13:19Congratulations Novak, another huge achievement.
13:22You've obviously been hitting with Nick Kyrgios a lot this fortnight, so you're probably in
13:26as good a position as anyone to let us know where you think he's at, how far away he is
13:31and what we can expect from him when he does get back.
13:33Well, I can tell you that I think a few days ago when we practised, actually yesterday
13:39I think it was, when we practised he hit a really good serve and he said, well, I might
13:45come back at the US Open, you know, so I don't know if he was joking about it or not
13:48but let me tell you, he's hitting the ball as good as ever really.
13:54I mean, he's so talented, he's so good with his tennis and serve, I think he said that
14:02the wrist bothers him mostly with the serve but he's been increasing the load and intensity
14:08and the speed.
14:09He's not going for full pace or full strength serve but he's close to that.
14:22He's very positive, it's nice to see him full of life, full of energy.
14:27He's really pumped to be here in Wimbledon, enjoying our practice sessions and commentating
14:35and he's an extremely important guy for our sport.
14:42I think he brings new fans, he's been doing a terrific job actually, you know, staying
14:50in tennis with his podcast and everything that he's been doing and interviewing, you
14:53know, Mike Tyson and, you know, some very interesting personalities from different industries.
15:01Yeah, I mean, it's a little bit of a bromance that we're having in the last few years, I
15:07mean, considering we really didn't like each other at all for many years but now we're
15:14getting along very well and he was very nice also to my kids, he played with them.
15:18So, yeah, I think that the return is near but I think it's hard to say really because
15:24one thing is really practicing for like an hour or two but, you know, completely something
15:28different when you're out there on the tour, playing in a tournament where you have to
15:36come back every single day, maybe for four, five, six days in a row.
15:39So I don't know how, I guess he will also not know if his wrist will react well until
15:45he actually plays a tournament.
15:47So yeah, I hope he can come back personally and I think everyone in tennis hopes he can
15:53come back quickly because we definitely need him on the tour.
15:57I'm sorry, we're going to wrap up the English now and move to Serbian questions.
16:00Thank you.
16:01Thank you.