Rafa Nadal loses another record to Novak Djokovic, who then comes back toWith 77 ATP Masters semifinals under his belt, Djokovic is one win above of the illustrious Spaniard.
With 77 ATP Masters semifinals under his belt, Djokovic is one win above of the illustrious Spaniard.
Rewind the tournament to 2015, when Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the penultimate round. Now, he’s back in the Monte Carlo semifinals.
By doing so, he has broken yet another of Rafael Nadal’s records and advanced to his 77th ATP Masters semifinal.
The younger supporters may not recall the last time Djokovic advanced to the TMS semifinals in Monte Carlo. After defeating Tomas Berdych, he went on to win his second title in the Monegasque principality. This Friday, April 12, nine years later, he advanced to the final four with a 7-5, 6-4 victory against Alex de Minaur.
With the win, Djokovic is able to overtake Rafael Nadal, with whom he was tied in the Masters 1000 category tournament semifinals. With 77 matches to 76 for the Spaniard, who hasn’t participated in a TMS since Paris-Bercy in 2022, the Balkan has already advanced to the final four.
The 24-time major champion is currently awaiting the outcome of the contest between Frenchman Ugo Humbert and Casper Ruud to
find out the role he will play.
Djokovic gets closer to the past
Should Djokovic win two more tennis matches, he would have accomplished a third sweep of all ATP Masters 1000 championships. The Serbian was not at his best against de Minaur, but Djokovic prevailed in a close match.
If Djokovic wins the final, he would have won 40 of the ATP Masters 1000, breaking the previous record. This comes just a few days after he became the oldest number one in PIF ATP Rankings history.
“After the victory, it was difficult for both of us,” Djokovic remarked. “Among the fastest players on the Tour is him. He retrieves more balls than other players—99 percent of them—do.
“His several passing shots did not come as a surprise to me. especially in the second set, when I was leading by a break, but he claimed it was ugly at the net. That was, I believe, the second set.
“He and I didn’t play at a high level and committed a lot of unintentional errors and service breaks. On clay, it’s kind of expected, but perhaps not this frequently. However, a victory is a victory, and I’m glad to be done.”
