Novak Djokovic said he expects a “great battle” against Italian powerhouse Matteo Berrettini in Sunday’s Wimbledon final when victory will earn the Serb a record-equalling 20th grand slam title.
The 34-year-old maintained his imperious progress as he fought off Canadian Denis Shapovalov in three tight sets on Friday to move into his 30th grand slam final.
Seventh seed Berrettini will be contesting his first — and the first for any man from Italy since Adriano Panatta won the 1976 French Open — but Djokovic is fully aware that the 25-year-old who bangs down serves at close to 140mph is a credible threat to his hopes of drawing level with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“Anything is possible in the finals,” defending champion Djokovic, who has won five of his previous six Wimbledon finals, including in 2018 and 2019, told reporters.
“Obviously experience is on my side. But Berrettini has been winning a lot of matches on grass courts this year, winning Queen’s. He’s in great form. He’s serving big, playing big. So it’s going to be a very tough match I think for both of us. But I’m looking forward to a great battle,” Djokovic said.
“My hope for Sunday is to try to go on the court with my head held high, play my game and see what happens. I don’t want to think that it’s already a win just to be there, that I can be satisfied with that, because that’s not what I’m made of. I always want more,” Berrettini said.
“But I have to be proud of what I’m doing, because it’s not a given and it’s not easy.”
The key to the title match could be Berrettini’s massive serves (to the tune of 101 aces and 95 of 100 holds in the tournament) against Djokovic’s best-in-the-business returns (he gets nearly everything back and has won 29 per cent of opponents’ service games).
It also could come down to how Berrettini handles the occasion. Djokovic recalled what it felt like to participate in a slam final for the first time. He was 20 and lost to Federer in three tight sets, including two tie-breakers, at the 2007 US Open.
“I was just so thrilled to be in the final,” Djokovic said. “I was close. I had a good match against Roger, but I just probably did not, maybe, believe enough, I guess, in the victory at certain moments when the scoreline was close.”
If Djokovic adds another title on Wimbledon’s grass, that will put him three-fourths of the way to a calendar-year grand slam, something only two men have done, most recently Rod Laver in 1969. Imagine the hype — and pressure — heading to New York, where the US Open begins on August 30.
“The biggest challenge and the biggest task is always how to be present and how to stay in the moment regardless of the possibilities, the hypotheticals, and various options that are out there,” Djokovic said.
Seismic Sunday
Berrettini said Italians should make sure they have a nice TV for what he promises to be a special Sunday for the sport-mad nation.
A few hours after the Wimbledon battle, at Wembley Stadium, Italy take on England in a momentous Euro 2020 final — a clash that has sent the home nation into euphoria.
“I will tell them to buy a nice TV if they don’t have one already because I think it’s going to be a special Sunday for all of us,” Berrettini said when asked about the seismic sporting Sunday in which he will play a leading role.
“It’s something crazy to believe for us, obviously let’s say tennis, because it’s never happened (before at Wimbledon). So it’s something that nobody expected — me in the first place.
“Then for football, because I mean, we didn’t qualify for the World Cup (in 2018), so after that the job that they did, how hard they worked, the effort that they put, I think they really deserve this final.”
A first
There will be a female chair umpire for the Wimbledon men’s singles final for the first time in the history of a tournament first played in 1877. Marija Cicak, a 43-year-old from Croatia, will officiate at the All England Club. The club announced Cicak’s selection on Saturday.
Written with inputs from agencies
