Sports / Tennis

‘Novak Djokovic has a mentality rarely seen in tennis history,’

Rafael Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya says Novak Djokovic has ‘a mental determination rarely seen in tennis history.’

Djokovic won the French Open earlier this month, beating Nadal in the semi-finals before coming back from two sets down in the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

It was only the third time Nadal had ever lost at Roland Garros, and Moya did not deny the better player won on the day.

He, though, also warned the Serbian that they will learn a lot from the defeat.

“He has an impressive mentality, a determination rarely seen in the history of the sport,” Moya said.

“Rafa made too many unforced errors and was not at his level with the serve or with the backhand.

“Novak did better, he cornered him very well on his backhand side and Rafa could not easily escape from there.

“We are going to learn a lot from this match.”

Novak Djokovic will also be a strong favorite for Wimbledon, where he can equal the Grand Slam haul of both Nadal and Federer should he win it.…

Sports / Tennis

Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon and the Olympics

World number three Rafael Nadal has pulled out of this month’s Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion, who won the Wimbledon titles in 2008 and 2010, says he needs to “recuperate after a long clay-court season”.

“It’s never an easy decision but after listening to my body and discussing it with my team I understand that it is the right decision,” said the Spaniard.

“The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy.”

The 35-year-old added: “That is to compete at the highest level and keep fighting for those professional and personal goals at the maximum level of competition.

Nadal hinted at the decision after his defeat by Serbia’s world number one Novak Djokovic in the French Open semi-finals last week.

If defending champion Djokovic wins the title at the All England Club, it will move him level with the record shared by Nadal and Switzerland’s Roger Federer of 20 men’s major singles titles.

Nadal said the shorter turnaround between the French Open and Wimbledon was a key factor in his decision.

This year, there are only two weeks between the French Open finishing on the clay and Wimbledon starting on the grass. Usually, there are three weeks between the two majors.

The French Open was pushed back a week by Roland Garros organisers in order to start the tournament with fewer of the country’s coronavirus restrictions in place – including allowing fans in to watch.

“The fact that there has only been two weeks between Roland Garros and Wimbledon didn’t make it easier on my body to recuperate after the always demanding clay-court season,” Nadal said in a Twitter post announcing the news.

“They have been two months of great effort and the decision I take is focused looking at the mid and long term.”

Nadal struggled with a back injury earlier this year, playing only the Australian Open – where he lost in the quarter-finals – before the clay-court season started in mid-April.

On his favourite surface …

Sports

Serena Williams Reaches Wimbledon Final

Seven-time champion Serena Williams reached the Wimbledon final for the 10th time on Thursday and will face Germany’s Angelique Kerber for the title.

The 25th seeded American downed German 13th seed Julia Goerges 6-2, 6-4 to book her place in her 30th Grand Slam final.

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The 36-year-old, who will be in her first final at the majors since giving birth to daughter Olympia last year, can equal Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Slam titles if she beats Kerber in what will be a repeat of the 2016 final at the All England Club.

Speaking after the game, Serena said: ‘It’s crazy, I l didn’t expect to do this well in my fourth tournament back. I can play so free and that’s kind of what I’m doing.’ ‘This wasn’t inevitable for me, I had a tough delivery (birth) and had multiple surgeries, I couldn’t walk to my mailbox so it’s not normal to be in a Wimbledon final.’

Of her next opponent, she said: ‘She is clearly a very good grass court player, whatever happens it’s an incredible effort from me and good motivation to keep going for the rest of my career.’ Serena Williams, a 23-time champion, will equal Margaret Court’s all-time record if she beats Angelique Kerber on Saturday in the finals.…

Sports

Wimbledon: Federer Breezes Past Lajovic

Roger Federer booked his spot in the second round of Wimbledon courtesy of a 6-1 6-3 6-4 victory over Serbian Dusan Lajovic on Monday.
The defending champion needed just 22 minutes to claim the opening set 6-1, with Lajovic losing three consecutive service games as he struggled to deal with the Swiss in the English capital.
Lajovic only lost one service game in the second set, but it was another uphill struggle to deal with the Federer serve, and the world number two hardly broke sweat as he moved two sets ahead.
The third and what proved to be final set also started in the worst possible fashion for Lajovic as he was broken immediately, and Federer then held his next five service games to ease his way into the second round of the competition.
The first-round match lasted just one hour and 21 minutes, with eight-time Wimbledon champion Federer hardly needing to move out of first gear.
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