01. 07. 2011. ·
Photo: AP
NOVAK DJOKOVIC is the new world tennis King!
Nole’s dream Wimbledon run continued on Friday as the second-seeded Serb defeated France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first semi-final of the day on Centre Court.
“My goal in tennis is to become number 1”, said Nole at the age of 7, and seventeen years later, the 24-year-old Belgrade native has made one of his dreams come true when he outplayed the Frenchman 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-7(9), 6-3!
Nole booked a final berth at the Wimbledon Championships for the first time in his career, and as a result of reaching the finals, the best Serbian tennis player will become the world no.1 taking over from Rafael Nadal.
The match lasted 3 hours and 7 minutes.
There has been so much at stake. Novak had a chance to make history and realise his childhood dream of ascending to the ATP throne. The pressure, the hopes, expectations of the fans, family and friends…
Nole lost his serve in the opening game of the match. He had a break point in the second, but Tsonga held to go up 2-0. Djokovic started serving better and was getting closer to harming the Frenchman on his service games. The Serb missed two opportunities in the eighth game, but capitalised on his fourth chance in the tenth to level at 5-all. Novak was better in a tie-breaker and won it 7-4 in 65 minutes.
The second seed was in complete control of the second set with brilliant serves and sizzling groundstrokes. Novak lost only three points on his serve. He made a double break, in the first and fifth games, for 6-2 in just 28 minutes.
Nole broke Tsonga in the third game of the third set and consolidated the break with a hold to love for 3-1. He got a little nervous, missed a couple of first serves… At 4-2 for Novak, the Frenchman won 3 games in a row. Djokovic turned it around again, and was serving for the match at 6-5, when the no.12 seed fought back once again for another tie-breaker. Nole had two match points, at 6-5 and 8-7, but Tsonga took it 11-9.
Djokovic forgot the third set quickly and raced to a 3-0 lead at the beginning of the fourth. He kept the advantage till the end, closed the set and match 6-3, and wrote his name in the history of the world tennis.
Novak, who has lost just once in 47 matches this year, will face defending champion top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the finals on Sunday.
The Spaniard beat world no.4 Andy Murray 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
Nole will climb to the top spot in the ATP rankings on Monday, becoming the first player not named Rafa or Roger to hold the top position since Andy Roddick did so in November 2004.
Congratulations Nole on reaching the Wimbledon final and becoming world no.1!
