YES, IT’S THAT MAN AGAIN!
Djokovic into final as Denis blows his big chance
Gone missing and last seen in the Wimbledon area — the multitude of chances that Denis Shapovalov had to stop novak Djokovic reaching the men’s singles final.
Such was the sheer frustration experienced by the young Canadian that his failure to capitalise upon his opportunities literally drove him to tears as he walked off Centre Court yesterday evening.
He left Djokovic behind to soak up the admiration of the crowd, who had been treated to three compelling sets that ended 7-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the 34-year-old Serb’s favour.
We have seen this movie before and it contains mixed messages for Matteo Berrettini, the man who will try to prevent him from equalling Rafael nadal and Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles tomorrow.
It is clear Djokovic is not at his imperious best this fortnight. It is also clear he does not need to be, such is his incredible resilience on the crisis points that this sport’s genius scoring system throws up.
The most obvious lesson is that taking only one of 11 break-point opportunities is never going to do it against the world no1, who is into his seventh championship match at SW19.
In some ways, winning it would be his biggest achievement.
‘It would mean everything to me,’ said Djokovic. ‘I came here imagining myself fighting for the trophy.
‘experience is on my side but Berrettini has been winning a lot on grass, he’s red hot. History is on the line.’
Shapovalov is only 22 and he showed enough to suggest that in due course he will be written into this tournament’s history. Blond, left-handed and a flamboyant shotmaker, he left quite a mark on this edition but you were left feeling that it could have been more.
As Djokovic was gracious enough to admit afterwards: ‘The scoreline doesn’t say enough about Denis’s performance and match.
‘He was serving for the first set, probably the better player for most of the second and had many chances.
‘I’d like to give him a big round of applause for everything he has done. This has been his first semi-final of a Grand Slam. You could see he was emotional, we will see a lot of him in the future, he is a great player.’
Shapovalov appreciated the words, which were repeated in the locker room afterwards. He also explained why he struggled to contain his emotions.
‘For me, it’s big coming from someone like him, it shows the kind of person he is. I’d like him to be my mentor one day because that would mean he’s stopped playing,’ half-joked the Canadian.
‘He does a really good job of putting pressure on when he needs to. I had chances in every set, a couple of strokes and it could have been a different match but it’s a learning process.
‘What hurts so much is that I felt like the game is there and I could have played for the trophy. I felt like I was outplaying him for parts of the match.’
Shapovalov walked on to court exactly a week after he strode into the same arena to face Andy Murray in the third round, when he showed that he is not shy on the big occasion.
That much was evident early on as Djokovic lacked timing in the face of the extravagant groundstrokes coming at him.
The Canadian’s problem in claiming break points was also on show from the beginning. Aided by two double faults from his opponent, he still needed three bites before getting ahead for 2-1.
That relaxed him and the champion was unnerved until Shapovalov served for the opener at 5-4, when the combination of a wobble, bad luck on a replayed line call and his opponent’s resolute defence undid him. A comedy of errors unfolded in the tiebreak with both players desperately tight, but Shapovalov the more strung-out of the pair.
He lost all five points on his serve, with two double faults contributing to his downfall and the second giving Djokovic the set.
Yet still the Serb looked vulnerable if Shapovalov could just summon up the composure. Instead, five break points went begging as the favourite somehow emerged intact at 3-3.
If there was a point that summed up why Djokovic wins so much, it came at 30-15 in the 11th game. Some frantic retrieving kept him in it and when the young Canadian failed to close out, his head went and he was broken thanks to another double fault.
By the time he had then missed two more chances at 1-0 in the third, 10 break points had come and gone.
From there, Djokovic began to move through his gears and the likely became the inevitable.