Mark Petchey and Daniela Hantuchova are tipping “miracle man” Novak Djokovic to defy the odds and beat Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s men’s Wimbledon final.
Djokovic is 37 and had knee surgery last month so it stands to reason that Alcaraz, 21, is favoured by the bookmakers to prevail in a repeat of last year’s decider at the All England Club, starting at 11pm AEST.
Yet it makes no sense that Djokovic is even at the starter’s line a month after surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.
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“There’s only one name in men’s tennis these days and it’s the miracle man,” Petchey, Andy Murray’s former coach, said on Stan Sport’s Grand Slam Daily.
“Novak Djokovic on an operating table over a month ago, nobody thought he was even going to be here at Wimbledon. It looks as though he’s going to equal Roger’s (Federer) record of an eighth (Wimbledon) title. Just phenomenal.
“He’s taken every other record, this one he’s just going to equal. But he is something else. Huge respect for the way that he’s been able to build another championship winning run.”
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A Djokovic victory would also deliver a 25th grand slam trophy, more than any tennis player ever.
The Serbian superstar is currently level on 24 with Australia’s Margaret Court, who won her last grand slam singles title in 1973.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, is set to be there in a rare public appearance after her cancer diagnosis.
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Hantuchova, the former Slovakian professional, is backing Djokovic to rise to the big occasion yet again.
“I know I’m supposed to go into the analysis why and all those analytical reasons he’s going to win,” Hantuchova told Grand Slam Daily.
“I only have one explanation. And that is that self belief. Basically, when Novak decides to do something, we don’t know how because he operates on another level of thinking.
“He is so convinced when he does something that he makes it happen… the commitment to everything he does, I mean, after the surgery, like, how are we talking about him being in the final?
“So that’s why on paper, is it possible he’s going to win? Absolutely not – but that’s where he always proves us wrong.”
It’s doubtful that many counted on him to make his way to the last day of this fortnight – at least they probably didn’t on June 3, the day he hurt his knee at the French Open.
Or on June 4, the day he withdrew from his quarter-final at that tournament, where he was the defending champion.
Or on June 5, the day he had the operation in Paris.
Even Djokovic was uncertain until a few days before the Wimbledon draw in late June that he would compete at all.
“Just the number of slams Novak has won on grass will make the difference,” Hantuchova said.
“Sometimes Carlos’ problem, it’s like in ice skating, he wants to do a triple axle in between, where it’s just enough to win games and the match.
“And that’s where I think Novak somehow will get into his head. And also remembering what happened last year in the final here, the huge chance here this time, I think he just will not let it go.”
After getting through his first few matches at the All England Club, Djokovic said he started to believe he had a shot at the title.
“History is on the line,” Djokovic said about the milestones at stake for him.
“Of course, it serves as a great motivation, but at the same time, it’s also a lot of pressure and expectation. Every time I step out on the court now, even though I’m 37 and competing with the 21-year-olds, I still expect myself to win most of the matches. And people expect me to win, whatever, 99 per cent of the matches that I play.”
During Roland Garros it was Alcaraz who noted Djokovic’s past history of returning from injuries.
“He comes back stronger and he comes back quickly,” he noted.
And on the eve of Wimbledon, it was Alcaraz who called Djokovic superhuman for managing to return to action.
Djokovic said he derived some optimism from texting with Taylor Fritz, the American who injured his meniscus at the 2021 French Open and competed at Wimbledon three weeks later.
Fritz was on a flight home from Paris this year when he received a message from Djokovic with questions about the procedure and recovery, then got a later note seeking more input after the surgery.
“If there’s anything he probably took from what I said, it was just confidence that it’s doable. I said: ‘actually, you’ll be surprised how good you feel, so quickly. You wouldn’t expect it’,” Fritz said.
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“I told him: ‘It’s painful. It’s really uncomfortable. But you can play through it’.”
So that’s what Djokovic did.
And by the time he was defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 in the semi-finals, Djokovic was pain free and moving fine while wearing a grey sleeve on his knee.
All in all, this has been a subpar season for the second seeded Djokovic.
Not only hasn’t he won a title, but he hadn’t even reached a final at any tournament until now.
None of that matters on Sunday, when he will try to stop the third seeded Alcaraz from collecting his fourth slam title.
“I know how it’s going to feel playing against Djokovic…. I know what I have to do. I’m sure he knows what he has to do to beat me,” said Alcaraz, who got past Daniil Medvedev 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals.
Alcaraz is 3-0 in major finals and former Australian professional Casey Dellacqua expects him to make it 4-0.
“Carlos Alcaraz for me in five sets,” Dellacqua said on Grand Slam Daily.
“And I only believe that because of the fact that he’s younger, he’s got youth on his side. He jumps around the court and I’m not saying Novak doesn’t. But I just think that a little bit of youth is going to help Carlos Alcaraz in this moment.”