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Djokovic Wimbledon 2021
ATP Tennis Players, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer, Tennis News, Wimbledon

‘I held my nerves better than he did,’ says Novak Djokovic


Novak Djokovic reached his 30th Grand Slam final with a straight sets victory over Denis Shapovalov, though admitted the match was far from straight forward.

The Serbian prevailed 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-5 to move within one victory of a 20th Grand Slam title, which would equal both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Despite winning in straight sets, Djokovic rallied from a break down in the first set and withstood a barrage of baseline winners from Shapovalov to triumph after two hours and 44 minutes.

“I don’t think that the scoreline says enough about the performance and about the match. He was serving for the first set and he was probably the better player for most of the second set,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview.

“He had many chances and I would like to give him a big round of applause for everything that he has done today and these two weeks.”

The World No 1 admitted that he held his nerves better than the 22-year-old Canadian when it truly mattered, with Shapovalov converting just one of his 11 break point opportunities.

“In [the] important moments, I think I probably held my nerves better than he did and just made him play an extra shot, made him [make] an unforced error,” said Djokovic.

“It’s tough to play Denis, particularly on grass and quicker surfaces with the lefty serve that he’s got. He can hit any spot. I think he’s one of the best servers on the tour, without a doubt. When he’s on, when he’s feeling that serve, it’s a weapon on any surface against anyone.”


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.