The man who shattered Djokovic’s Olympic dream could stop him winning a calendar-year grand slam at the US Open, too
Two more matches. Six more sets. Those are the only remaining obstacles separating Novak Djokovic from becoming the first male player to win the calendar-year grand slam since Rod Laver in 1969 while also winning his 21st grand slam title, breaking his tie with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. But as he rounds on his final hurdles, standing before him are the most difficult tasks to come. On Friday he will face the surging Alexander Zverev in the semi-final, and if he wins possibly Daniil Medvedev, the second seed, in the final.
Over the course of the summer, Zverev, the fourth seed, has come to represent the biggest source of friction in Djokovic’s historic season. Just over a month ago, the Serb was seemingly powering towards his elusive Olympic gold medal and he led Zverev 6-1, 3-2 in the semi-final with a break of serve. But then, in a flash, it was gone. He lost 10 of the next 11 games and after starting the match with a 22-match winning streak, he lost three matches, two each in singles and one in mixed doubles, within 24 hours, as well as pulling out of the mixed doubles bronze-medal match. He left Tokyo exhausted. “I played great, great tennis. Then unfortunately [my] game fell apart. It happens,” he said on Wednesday about the loss against Zverev, after his four-set win over Matteo Berrettini.