‘Elastic’ Novak Djokovic has all the qualities of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, says next opponent
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina believes he knows the key to solving the Novak Djokovic conundrum as he had some high praise for the all-time great ahead of the clash at the Cincinnati Open.
The pair will meet for the fifth time in top-flight tennis on Wednesday and Djokovic leads the head-to-head 3-1, although the Spaniard does have a famous victory to his name as he upset the Serbian 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 on the clay in Monte Carlo last year.
Much like their encounter in the Principality in 2022, Davidovich Fokina is once again dreaming big.
“I wanted to one day play against him and obviously if I can beat him, for me it would have been a dream. I think it is the same now,” he told ATPTour.com. “If I can win this match [on Wednesday], for me it’s a dream because in the end you don’t win against these guys every day.”
He added: “I know that it’s going to be Novak Djokovic next and it’s going to be a very, very tough match. But I think I’m prepared now to face him and to try to beat him.”
Djokovic won their most recent encounter at the French Open in three sets and he went all the way at Roland Garros as he claimed a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title.
Davidovich Fokina knows he faces an uphill battle against one of the very best in the business as he highlighted some of the Serbian’s strengths.
“He has everything of Rafa [Nadal] and [Roger] Federer. His body is so elastic and he can be very, very solid and he has the weapons to push you to make errors. Then he has winners. He’s very good serving,” the 24-year-old said.
“But the key of his is that he sees the match very good. The moment of the match, he knows how to [judge what he needs to do] very good.”
But Davidovich Fokina feels he learned a great deal from their 2022 clash in Monte Carlo and knows how to solve the Djokovic puzzle.
“I remember that I was dominating him very good. And in the middle of the second set, he broke me back. When he won the second set, he was on fire,” he explained. “But I just was [focussed] on being on court, to play against him and to be focussed on every ball. I think that the key to win was to be focussed in every point.
“It doesn’t matter the result, you forget about the result. You have to play against him because at the end, he’s a legend. And you don’t play every day with these types of guys.”
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