Đoković je dobio pregršt pohvala nakon meča iz svih uglova

Teniser Sveta put up a fantastic resistance, especially in the first two sets, but after that, he couldn’t keep up with the level of the reigning champion. “I played well in the first two sets, it was very tough physically,” he said. He also spoke about Novak, for whom he had a lot of praise. “The biggest thing is that he’s fast and doesn’t miss many shots, you have to play quality shots because he doesn’t give many opportunities. When I go with a second serve, that’s not the baseline, it’s something else. It’s too hard to control. It’s good to win so many important points, but at one point, I thought I couldn’t win a point. He played too well. Nevertheless, I’m satisfied with how I fought for myself on the court.”

Fritz has now lost his ninth match against Novak, and he still doesn’t have a single victory. “For me, the head-to-head record looks bad, but in the first five matches, I wasn’t at this level, I was young. In the sixth match, I was close, but the next two I played pretty poorly. I told myself that there has to be one match where everything falls into place, but the record still looks discouraging. If I played like in the first two sets, maybe something was possible.”

The quarterfinal match was played in difficult weather conditions. “After that, it started to cool down, but it was warm in the beginning. The percentage of first serves decreased, I had to work for every point in the third and fourth sets. Such a serve can’t be against such a returner. Two and a half hours were physically exhausting, if I could play at that level for another two, three hours… I need to be ready for something like that. During breaks, I try to stay healthy, avoid injuries, and work in the gym to be able to play long and physically demanding matches.”

Commenting on the late play in Melbourne, Fritz said, “It’s very difficult. I talked to Medvedev and some guys, it practically messes up your daily schedule, I feel sorry for those guys. You can’t sleep normally, it’s not easy to go out and play at that intensity when your body is under such pressure. They can definitely do something about it, not playing until 2 or 3 a.m. Treatments are available after matches, so you can’t fall asleep until five or six in the morning,” concluded Taylor Fritz.