Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Arriving in Geneva searching for his first clay victory of the season, Novak Djkovic now stands one win from century celebration.
A day after celebrating his 38th birthday, Djokovic showed plenty of life in his legs beating British qualifier Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-1 to reach his 143rd career final at the Geneva Open today.
Grand Slam king Djokovic plays for his 100th career championship against buddy Hubert Hurkacz in tomorrow’s final.
Earlier, Hurkacz served 70 percent, hammered 7 aces and won 29 of 33 first-serve points (88 percent) in a 6-3, 6-4 sweep of Austrian Sebastian Ofner.
Olympic gold-medal champion Djokovic is playing for his first title since he out-dueled Carlos Alcaraz to strike gold for Serbia at the 2024 Paris Olympics last August. If he achieves that aim, Djokovic will join fellow icons Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer as just the third man in Open Era history to hit the hundred mark of ATP titles.
Djokovic is 7-0 lifetime vs. Hurkacz and will play his 35th career clay-court final.
“It was tough—three sets, second set he was a break up and I managed to come up to take the set to tiebreak,” Djokovic said. “Match point I got a bit tight there missed a couple of midcourt shots, that’s what happens.
“I’m really glad how I regrouped and played best set of the tournament [in the final set]… [Making the final] means a lot so let’s go for that.”
Strong serving has sparked Djokovic’s run to his first final since he lost to Jakub Mensik at the Miami Open in April.
Today, Djokovic delivered clutch serving again.
The former world No. 1 whipped 11 aces, served 63 percent and dropped just seven points on first serve. Djokovic has only been broken twice in three tournament wins this week.
Working with long-time close friend and new coach Dusan Vemic, who was one of Serbia’s biggest servers during his days on the Tour, Djokovic has looked decisive on serve and used the slider serve down the T on the ad side to great effect today.
The Djokovic-Vemic partnership has been fascinating to watch this week. Djokovic seems to be gesturing and talking to the box much more frequently than he did during his brief tenure with former No. 1 Andy Murray. Over the last two matches, Djokovic has gestured so often it’s like he’s playing charades with his box between points.
That expressive communication has worked well so far as Djokovic did not flinch when forced to three sets today.
Breaking for a 4-3 first-set lead, Djokovic reeled off eight straight points on serve to take a one-set lead.
Turning the tables in the second set, Norrie converted his second break point for a 3-1 lead. The Briton was playing with high energy mixing loopy topspin lefty forehand with flat backhands that buzzed the top of the net in stretching his lead to 5-2.
Serving for the set, Norrie went into a swarm of stinging returns from the Serbian superstar as Djokovic broke back in the ninth game.
The tiebreaker was even at 5-all when Djokovic drilled a heavy forehand for match point. Norrie slithered the slider serve wide to save it. Djokovic ended a physical rally missing a forehand to face set point. Norrie drew an errant backhand to take the set and force a decider.
Facing third-set pressure, Djokovic elevated his level to a place Norrie could not match. Djokovic raced through 12 of the first 13 points powering out to a 3-0 lead.
Reading the wide serve, Djokovic ripped a forehand return breaking for the fourth time and a 5-1 lead.
A slice serve down the T set up a slick forehand drive volley for two more match points. Djokovic sealed the two hour, 15-minute win with a whipping serve.
The Serbian’s revenge red clay tour continues. Yesterday, Djokovic avenged his Madrid loss by beating Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-4.
Today, Djokovic ground down Norrie two years after he beat the Brit 6-3, 6-4 in a contentious clash in Rome. Norrie nailed Djokovic in the back with a smash as the Serbian, who had conceded the point, had his back to the net. Djokovic did not appreciate what he felt was a cheap shot and voiced his views after a terse handshake.
Today, there were few signs of acrimony—Djokovic actually applauded a few Norrie winners—and the post-match handshake was much warmer than the slap hands parting in Rome.
Tomorrow, Djokovic will face friendly fire from buddy Hurkacz as the Grand Slam king plays for even more prestigious history.