Novak Djokovic’s comeback is coming together just in time for Wimbledon
Roger Federer now says that Novak Djokovic is a major contender for another Wimbledon title, but Djokovic himself is downplaying his chances at the grass grand slam.
Novak Djokovic lost in the final at Queen’s Club, in a hard-fought match against Marin Cilic, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3, the same day Federer lost in his own final at Halle.
Federer has won the Wimbledon title a record eight times and is considered the frontrunner, despite the loss on Sunday. The Swiss also won the first grass event at Stuttgart over a week ago and is resting up for the first week of the grass slam.
Djokovic is coming off a promising clay season where he slowly started out in the first events, but made the semis in Rome and the quarters at Roland Garros. But his game really came together during the Queens Club grass event, where he exhibited gorgeous form all week, beating second seed Grigor Dimitrov, and making it to the finals to face Cilic.
Djokovic has won Wimbledon three times, having defeated Roger Federer the last two times he hoisted the trophy there in 2014 and 2015. Djokovic has shown flashes of his brilliant form getting to this point. Is he the same athlete who collected 12 grand slams in a short time span, or is still progressing to a resurgent form?
Marin Cilic, the new world No. 5, who just defeated him in the longest final match at Queens, said Djokovic isn’t quite there yet.
“Just looking from the other side of the net, I feel that in some shots he was maybe executing them a little bit better [before the injury],” Cilic said after the match at Queens.
“Even today, I didn’t have such a good percentage executing the first serve and he was giving me some chance to stay with him. I had a lot of second serves and some of them he was missing.
“From a serving standpoint, I don’t know if he had a slightly faster serve in the past? It may be just part of the process for him while he is trying to be completely healthy.
“He is moving really well and returning really well and I think he is improving every single week.
“It is great for us to see him playing so well and I hope he is going to stay healthy.”
Novak Djokovic has now cracked the Top 20 again and is a current world No. 17, having moved up five spaces since making the Queens Club final.
But he still downplays his chances at Wimbledon.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a contender [for Wimbledon], you know, for a trophy or anything like that,” said Djokovic after the match. “I have to keep my expectations, you know, very low, considering my results in the last 12 months.”
Both Federer and Djokovic were close to winning their finals on Sunday, but didn’t. Federer lost the first set tie break when he was sitting one point away from closing it out. Djokovic had set point in the second and lost his confidence as well, allowing Cilic to regain the momentum.
Both Federer and Djokovic have an excellent track record in grand slams, which encompasses a whole level of pressure that very few can withstand—Cilic among them, who famously had a meltdown in the final against Federer last year.
Federer will be defending his title while Djokovic is getting closer to 100 percent and looking to prove himself on a grand slam level.
“You know, I think Roger, motivational level I think just slightly better and higher on Grand Slams, and you can see that throughout so many years that he’s been showing the best tennis at Grand Slam levels,” explained Marin Cilic, the Queens Club title winner.
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Wimbledon starts July 2, with Federer, Nadal, Cilic, and now Djokovic top contenders for the title.