Djokovic finds his groove on grass to reach final
SOME would say it is fate that Novak Djokovic has reached his 99th career final at Queen’s, just weeks before the main event at the All England Club.
Yet the Serb will not be thinking about achieving his century at Wimbledon when he attempts to overcome the huge serve of top seed Marin Cilic today.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion’s last final — and title — also came on a British grass court, when he won at Eastbourne almost a year ago to the day. A frustrating 12 By Kieran Gill months followed but Djokovic defeated Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-6, 6-4 in the semi-finals at Queen’s yesterday.
‘It feels great, my first final since Eastbourne,’ Djokovic said. ‘It is a special moment.
‘Now that I get a chance to fight for a trophy in one of the biggest tournaments of the grass court season, it means a lot to me.’
It is only three weeks since Djokovic questioned if he would even compete on grass this summer, but he has looked at home in west London.
Playing here for the first time in eight years, he added: ‘Cilic has been playing the best he’s ever played. Big serve. Just big game overall.
‘We are good friends. We practise a lot. There are not many secrets between us. We know each other’s game well.’
Cilic won the battle of the big servers in his semi-final, triumphing 7-6, 7-6 against Nick Kyrgios.
Kyrgios was as entertaining as always but could not see off the 6ft 6in Croatian, who wants to reach another final at the All England Club.
Cilic lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon last year, when he struggled with a blister.
He said of facing Djokovic: ‘You can see he is fighting hard on the court. You can see that mentality is back and he’s playing good tennis.’
Kyrgios, who beat Andy Murray in the first round, then British No 1 Kyle Edmund in the second, added: ‘I’ve played some good tennis, played some tough opponents. That’s a positive.
‘I feel confident for Wimbledon, for sure. The Grand Slams are totally different. Best of five sets. There are a lot more momentum swings. I feel pretty untouchable on serve.’
As Djokovic won at Queen’s, another former Wimbledon champion eased to her own grass final. Petra Kvitova beat Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-final of the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham and will face Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova in today’s final.