Novak Djokovic will continue his bid to win all four Grand Slams in the same year against Olympic champion Alexander Zverev in Friday’s US Open semi-final.
The world No.1 dismissed in four sets 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 against Matteo Berrettini on Wednesday. This victory brings him a little closer to a historic Grand Slam calendar, that is to say the fact of winning the four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year, which no player has achieved since Rod Laver, in 1969.
“Winning gold at the Olympics, winning in Cincinnati quite comfortably, he made it to the semi-finals here. We played a month ago in Tokyo. I was a set and a breakup and he managed to turn the tide.” Djokovic said.
“It’s the semifinals of a Grand Slam right now, he’s one of the best players in the world and I’m excited. The greater the challenge, the more glory there is in overcoming it.” Djokovic added.
Djokovic produced the best three sets and drastically reduced the number of mistakes he made to make sure he kept his Calendar Slam dream alive.
“It was a great game, with a lot of energy on and off the pitch. Matteo is a great player and every time we face each other it’s a close battle.” Djokovic said.
“When I lost the first set, I managed to forget it and move on. I was stuck at the start of the second and these are the three best sets I’ve played so far.” he added.
Meanwhile, Zverev hopes he can repeat his Olympic feat and defeat world No. 1 Djokovic once again.
“Winner in Tokyo against the world number one, especially since I had lost a set and a break, being sort of out of the game, then coming back, it was different from other matches. The emotions were different.” Zverev said.
“This year it seems like no one can beat him in a big game, no one can beat him in a Grand Slam.” he added.
