Djokovic faces tricky opponent in Bautista Agut at Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Novak Djokovic only has to look back a few months to remind himself that he shouldn’t underestimate his next opponent at Wimbledon.
The top-ranked Serb will be facing Roberto Bautista Agut, a player who beat him in both of their meetings in 2019 — on hard courts in Doha and Miami.
So while the match is pitting a four-time Wimbledon champion with 15 major titles against a player in his first Grand Slam semifinal, recent history suggests that things might not be quite so one-sided.
“He has won twice against me so far this year. That’s certainly going to give him confidence coming into the match,” Djokovic said.
Ahead of the quarterfinals, Bautista Agut was — somewhat surprisingly — the only player who hadn’t dropped a set this tournament. That streak ended against Guido Pella, but the 23rd-seeded Spaniard still won 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Djokovic had an easier time against David Goffin after erasing an early break, winning 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.
Djokovic is known for his ability to extend rallies and keep the ball in play with his defensive ability, and Bautista Agut said that’s a style of play that suits him well.
“He is very solid from baseline. He likes to play a lot of rallies,” Bautista Agut said. “Well, I like to play against (an) opponent like this, to play a match with a lot of rallies. Against Novak, that’s what we do.”
On the grass at Wimbledon, though, there might not be so many of those rallies. But Djokovic thinks Bautista Agut could be even more dangerous on the quicker surface.
“The ball bounces lower on the grass, which is I think more suitable to his style of the game. He doesn’t like when the ball bounces higher to his backhand,” Djokovic said. “Obviously playing on grass, it’s different. Semifinals of Grand Slam, (I’m) going to try to use my experience in being in these kind of matches.”