Novak Djokovic peut encore rivaliser avec les meilleurs sur un format en trois sets gagnants. Il l'a prouvé ce mardi. En quarts de finale de l'Open d'Australie, le Serbe s'est offert le scalp du n°3 mondial Carlos Alcaraz. Mené d'une manche et en délicatesse avec son adducteur gauche, Nole a pourtant réussi à remporter un combat épique en quatre manches, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Boosté par un Andy Murray plutôt calme au bord du court, l'homme aux 24 titres du Grand Chelem a passé la vitesse supérieure et pris de vitesse un Alcaraz excellent par intermittence. Vendredi, face à Alexander Zverev, il disputera sa sa 50e demi-finale en Grand Chelem, la 12e à Melbourne.
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00:00Yeah, I mean, best match of the tournament for, I think, I mean, for me and possibly
00:09one of the best matches that was played on the men's side.
00:14Just super proud to push this one through in the four sets.
00:21Carlos brings so much energy and intensity on the court and always demands the best of
00:33his opponent in order to, yeah, for his opponent to have a chance to win against him.
00:39So I knew that that coming into the match, I thought I started off very well.
00:46It was quite an even match and then, yeah, the accident happened physically with me in
00:54the end of the first.
00:58I lost the first set, came back, somehow managed to win the second and then started to feel
01:07better, I guess, towards the end of the second, beginning of the third, started to move better.
01:13And yeah, I mean, every set was super close.
01:19The crowd was into it.
01:22So much energy on the court.
01:23It was amazing.
01:24It was, it felt like it was finals of a slam, to be honest, I mean, I wish it was.
01:31So I mean, credit to him for fighting and I think we both gave all on the court tonight
01:39and hopefully people saw that.
01:41I think we've seen over the last six months how you were able to find a level when you
01:48really, really needed the Olympic final today when you were under this sort of pressure.
01:53I just wonder, now that you've said it kind of felt like a final, obviously there's the
01:59physical element, but what about the emotional element of trying to go again now?
02:04How challenging is that going to be for you, do you think?
02:07Well, I mean, it's definitely going to be challenging from every aspect.
02:11I mean, I'm playing Zverev, who is in a great form and he's going for his first Grand Slam
02:17and he's been close and I think, I mean, I've seen him play and I practice with him as well
02:23here.
02:25I mean, I think he loves the conditions.
02:27He's got big serve and it's just, he's super dangerous opponent on the surface against
02:34anyone.
02:36Extra day with no match comes at a good time.
02:39Yeah, as I said on the court, I have to assess the situation tomorrow when I wake up.
02:47I'm going to try to do as much as I possibly can with my recovery team, with my physio
02:55today, tomorrow and the next few days.
02:59Probably skip training tomorrow, I'll see if I'm going to train in two days or not.
03:04I'll take it day by day.
03:06Now it's really about recovery.
03:09I'm concerned, I am, to be honest, physically.
03:13But if I manage somehow to be physically good enough, I think mentally, emotionally, I'm
03:23as motivated as I can be.
03:25So it's, yeah, this match drains both players and almost three and a half, four hours of
03:36incredible battle and high intensity, of course, it has its toll.
03:42But at the same time, I think it has more toll on the physical side rather than mental
03:47and emotional.
03:48Actually, it feels like you're feeding off this kind of wind.
03:52So I mean, that's how I feel now.
03:55So I hope to be able physically to be moving freely and to be able to be ready to play
04:04five sets, because I don't think I'm going to have mentally or emotionally an issue to
04:09face or to motivate myself or anything like that.
04:14You had this week, you know, obviously the Channel 9 drama and then such a brilliant
04:21opponent like Carlos and you're finding injury.
04:24How are you able to find your best tennis when you're backed against the wall and facing
04:29the most adversity?
04:32I think I've experienced that a few times in my career and experience helps of understanding
04:39how to face adversity and draw the, I guess, the right necessary strength and energy that
04:49you feed off in order to win a tennis match, to win a tournament.
04:54Yeah, I mean, it's I don't recall last time there was any slam without some some form
05:02of drama, to be honest, but I guess that's that's part of it.
05:06And, you know, we are out here competing and giving our best to to to grab a grandson
05:13title.
05:14So, you know, a lot of things happen on the way and that's OK.
05:20You know, I I'm just pleased with the way I was able to play throughout the entire tournament,
05:28including tonight against one of the best players, best player, one of the two, probably
05:35or three best players in the world in the last three, four years.
05:38So just a great win.
05:41Very proud of it.
05:45This is obviously your first massive test with your new coach.
05:51Yeah.
05:52I'm just curious how satisfied are you with how that's gone?
05:56You must have been curious about how it's been.
05:58Yeah, I mean, I've I felt I felt to do it in the end of the match, you know, feel more
06:03and more connected with Andy every day and just, you know, we we we face we face challenges
06:11every single day.
06:13People don't see that, obviously.
06:14I mean, we try to make the most out of every day and grow together.
06:22And he's been as committed to my career and this tournament as he can be.
06:30So it was a kind of a gesture of appreciation, respect for him and the fact that he's he's
06:38out there, you know, and he doesn't need to be and that he accepted to work with me and
06:44that he's, you know, giving all his support to me, to the whole team and trying to make
06:51it work.
06:52And this was a huge win for for all of us, including including Andy and myself, you know,
06:58for the relationship.
06:59So, yeah, that's that's the why I went to him, because I just felt felt very grateful
07:04that he's there.
07:05All right.
07:06I think I understand the court that it was a similar injury to two years ago, and that
07:11was a hamstring injury.
07:12Yeah.
07:13So is it is it your hamstring that saw or was it the groin?
07:16I'm not going to go into details, but it is very similar to what I had a few years ago.
07:202023, to be exact.
07:24And I haven't done any tests, obviously.
07:26I mean, I've done tests with the physio that when I took me off the court, when I had a
07:32medical timeout and he strapped me and gave me and then the doctor gave me some medications
07:37and so forth, painkillers that kicked in after 20, 30 minutes and he did help.
07:43And then I had to take another dose, I think, at the beginning of the fourth.
07:48But yeah, now that it's cooling off, I can I can start to feel different things.
07:52So, yeah, let's let's see.
07:55Let's see how it goes tomorrow and day by day.
07:57Last one.
07:58Carlos was admitting that after he got injured, he got a little bit distracted and maybe lost
08:03his focus a bit.
08:04Did you notice that?
08:05And also, I did.
08:06How did you take advantage of that and how do you stop yourself from getting distracted
08:10in your career when you see something across the net?
08:13Yeah.
08:14No, no.
08:15Look, I saw it.
08:16And I, you know, try to use that to my advantage in a sense to, you know, to take the initiative
08:25of the rallies and, you know, his hesitation and, you know, he was trying to play at some
08:30point quite a few drop shots and, you know, make me run.
08:35I've been in the situations as well where opponents, you know, struggle with injury,
08:40but keep going and then you're like the opponent is going for everything and then he's staying
08:46in the match and then all of a sudden as the match progresses, the opponent feels better.
08:51And then you're, you know, you're starting to panic a bit with your game.
08:55So I understand the feeling, you know.
08:58So yeah, I just, as I said on the court, tried to understand how I feel.
09:06I didn't feel great, the second set, but I, you know, went for my shots and I kind of,
09:12I was really close to the line and just had to be more aggressive.
09:16And I, as I said in my previous answer, felt better and better as the match progressed,
09:22particularly end of the second and the entire third till mid-fourth set was the best that
09:28I felt in terms of the movement after that injury.
09:30So I felt like it wasn't restricting me as much, to be honest.
09:35I felt pretty much normal.
09:39And then, yeah, end of the fourth was a little bit worse, but still was okay.
09:46So yeah.
09:47Look, I feel for him.
09:49I understand that he's not comfortable to play someone that you don't know if he's going
09:54to retire or not, or is he moving?
09:56Is he running?
09:57Is he going to go?
09:58You know, what's happening?
09:59So, you know, I felt that he was looking at me more than he was looking at himself.
10:05So that was, you know, I was just trying to be, yeah, self-observing what's going on
10:12in my body and at the same time focus on every point in every game and try to hold my serve
10:20and put pressure on him.
10:21That's what happened, you know, put myself in a position where I could possibly break
10:24and I broke his serve at five-four.
10:27It was good enough to clinch the set and then, you know, set old and, you know, you start
10:32to feel better and then, you know, he started to hesitate to play with a bit more hesitation
10:40from back of the court.
10:41He was missing a bit more.
10:43So yeah, I started to play more freely and it kind of reminded me of 2023, really, when
10:48this happened.
10:49I just had to, like, when Jim Courier actually asked me on the court today, so, you know,
10:53about it.
10:54And it does remind me a little bit of that feeling and probably have to do the same,
10:58you know, on Friday.
10:59Again, I don't know what's going to happen in the next few days, but hoping for the best.