For all is the party of this Roland Garros. And it’s only a semifinal. But they are the best of the moment so much. Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. The youth of the new leader, against the experience of the leader of the old guard. Two eras in a match that is the semifinal with the greatest age difference in history. Mats Wilanderchampion of seven Grand Slams and commentator on Eurosportis also looking forward to watching the game, but he is listening to ABC and other international media to analyze this clash that could change an era.
What tactics do you think Novak and Alcaraz will try to use against each other?
If I had a thousand pages, I could write them, but they probably have more than a thousand takes each. So it’s very, very, very difficult to get an idea of what they’re going to do. We know Novak will be solid. He’s not going to make mistakes, he’s going to try to be as aggressive as possible with his own forehand and backhand, he’s going to have to hit a little harder because Alcaraz is so fast on the court that he can run and hit forehands from virtually anywhere. So I think the number 1 key for Djokovic will be to stay away from Alcaraz’s forehand.
For the Spaniard, it will mean not making too many unforced errors. You are playing Noval Djokovic and he will eat you up. He has to work on that, and study hard since he is 36 years old and Alcaraz is 20. You have to rely on that strength of youth.
What weakness does Djokovic have that Alcaraz can exploit?
I don’t think he has any weaknesses, not now. I mean, I was kind of flat the other day against Karen Khachanov. I don’t know, emotionally, physically, I’m not sure why she didn’t come out of it. He didn’t play very well in the first set and towards the end of the second he turned it around. But a match like that… It’s probably not enough to start like that against Alcaraz. And that’s why it’s so complicated. You don’t want to start badly against the Spaniard because, although he doesn’t have the experience in numbers, he is already an experienced tennis player and fully understands what he has to do to win matches. So I think there can’t be too many disconnects from either of them or they’ll be lost.
Stefanos Tsitpas said that Djokovic has the experience, Alcaraz has the legs, which do you think is more useful?
It depends, that’s the key. Djokovic definitely has the experience. Most likely, he believes in his heart that he is going to play a better match against Alcaraz than in the previous five. I think at some point he is invincible. I don’t think he thinks he can lose, but he has lost to Alcaraz once last year in Madrid on clay. He knows the threat is there.
And for Alcaraz, he has the legs, but for me it’s more, legs combined with creativity. That’s something Novak isn’t very used to because no one can play tennis the way Alcaraz plays tennis. So Novak will have to be very alert, not too far back from the baseline, be ready for Alcaraz’s ball speed and accuracy.
Have we seen the best Djokovic ever?
I think the best version of Novak will come out at some point in the match, he didn’t against Khachanov. If he gets the same start against Alcaraz, who is too good, young and confident, he’s done for. Novak needs to get out there and be aggressive. On grass he is completely different, but on a slow clay court with heavy balls, I think Novak needs to play risky tennis which he doesn’t have to do very often.
Is Djokovic the best tie breaker of all time?
Yes. It is because it returns very well. Puts any ball back into play and does not give you free points. And this also increases it when he plays a tie break. And why is he able to do that? Chances are that when your opponent is taking his normal serve turn, he takes a little more risk on the return. But in a tiebreaker it’s all about putting the ball in play and seeing what happens. And then he pulls out well enough. You get a few free points here and there. No matter what surface it looks like, it just goes into what he calls lockout mode and doesn’t fail. But it’s very difficult to play tiebreakers for tennis players in general because it’s not what we grew up doing. We grew up playing games and in a 15-15, 30-15 game, there is some irrelevant point. That doesn’t happen in a tiebreaker.
How much does the mentality weigh in that?
Well, I think most opponents won’t know the stats. And if you ask Novak, I bet he doesn’t even know the facts about him. In an interview he already said that anything can happen in tie breaks, but he has shown that this is not the case. I do think he still feels there are a couple of lucky points against your serve. Then all of a sudden you have a mini break and then all of a sudden there’s a colon and now you’re in trouble. So I think it obviously helps his confidence.
