{"id":340941,"date":"2023-07-03T03:01:47","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T03:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/blog\/2023\/07\/03\/wimbledon-2023-grass-is-for-the-g-o-a-t-and-novak-djokovic-is-ready-for-it-tennis-news-times-of-india\/"},"modified":"2023-07-03T03:01:47","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T03:01:47","slug":"wimbledon-2023-grass-is-for-the-g-o-a-t-and-novak-djokovic-is-ready-for-it-tennis-news-times-of-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/blog\/2023\/07\/03\/wimbledon-2023-grass-is-for-the-g-o-a-t-and-novak-djokovic-is-ready-for-it-tennis-news-times-of-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Wimbledon 2023: Grass is for the G.O.A.T, and Novak Djokovic is ready for it | Tennis News – Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"

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LONDON<\/a>: The morning sky at SW19 was of a weepy hue, in the distance the St Mary\u2019s Church bells chimed. A signal. The Championships, starting Monday, is the first Wimbledon after Roger Federer retired from the sport; the Swiss, who these grounds embraced as their very own, was Lord of the lawns, having won here eight times. Adored and adorned.
By the end of the fortnight, this grass-court Slam could have another awe-inspiring hero at the helm. Novak Djokovic<\/a> is going for a record-equaling eighth Wimbledon title and ground-altering 24th Grand Slam crown.
The No.2 seed is on a 28-match winning streak here, having not lost a match on these premises since 2016. He\u2019s unbeaten on Centre Court since 2013.At Aorangi Park, Wimbledon\u2019s popular practice set up, the seven-time champion hit with Andy Murray, who incidentally is the only player in the draw of 128 to have beaten Djokovic on grass.
The Serb, in mint condition, showed sparks of his remarkable mental and physical elasticity, during the hour-long session, apologizing for balls that were wide only by a hair\u2019s breadth.
The 36-year-old, supreme on hardcourts, was stirring on clay last month where he claimed his third Roland Garros title, but it is grass and Wimbledon in particular that best illustrates the Serb\u2019s growth as a player.<\/p>\n

His return, especially off the backhand, has changed the contours of a riposte. Against Djokovic, you haven\u2019t broken until you\u2019ve held. On a scale of one to ten, his serves have sharpened from six to eight. The world No. 2\u2019s sneaky use of the real estate has stretched the square measure down the other end, while his own electric coverage has shrunk his side of the court.
Grass is not a surface Djokovic grew up on, but Wimbledon was a long-time dream.
\u201cI got to top-100 in the world for the first time here in Wimbledon (2005), reached the third round as a teenager here. This tournament has a lot of significance statistically too,\u201d Djokovic said, adding, \u201cThen for several years, I struggled to take my game to the next level on grass.”<\/p>\n

“For me it\u2019s natural to slide and grass is not a forgiving surface when it comes to sliding, extreme sliding motions. I had to learn how to move, how to walk, how to play. It does take time \u2014 more than any other surface \u2014 to really get used to it.\u201d
The Serb won his first Wimbledon title in 2011 and in the last eight seasons (excluding 2020 when The Championships weren\u2019t held) he has won six.
Djokovic, who claimed the year\u2019s first two majors, is coming into this charming setting, where the tradition teases modernity, looking for a victory that will keep his hopes alive for a historic calendar Grand Slam, heading into New York in August.<\/p>\n

Should he manage to tick all four boxes in 2023, it\u2019ll put him on a whole different thermosphere, separating him from his closest rivals Federer and Rafael Nadal Djokovic, who hasn\u2019t played an official match coming into the grass-court major, opens proceedings on Centre Court on Monday against Argentina\u2019s Pedro Cachin, ranked 67.
The two have never met. The top-half of the draw, headed by Carlos Alcaraz, appears less predictable maybe because it also has the third seed Daniil Medvedev and the sixth seed Holger Rune, but again, it may only be because Djokovic is lodged in the bottom-half.<\/div>\n