The classic tennis rivalry is back on the scene. Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray played against each other in a career 36 duels, now they will meet in Madrid for the first time in five long years. Even the world number one could hardly believe where the undefeated British tennis player was moving despite her prosthetic hip.
The tennis world has noticed. Murray v. Djokovic. The peer-to-peer duel, born a week in a row in May 1987, will be staged Thursday by the program of the Grand Masters 1000 clay tournament in the Spanish capital.
The thirty-four year old champion has competed in a grand slam final seven times in the past, Murray celebrated twice, Djokovic five.
The last seven reciprocal duels out of a total of thirty-six took place between 2015 and 2017 as part of the tournament finals.
The intense rivalry then lay dormant at arm’s length, and the phenomenal England was significantly slowed by serious health problems. According to doctors, they should have ended his career.
But Murray did not give up, and although he was overwhelmed time and time again – even in public – by dark thoughts, he stubbornly dried his tears each time, rose from the ashes, and despite years of hardship, eventually returned to the elite hundreds. . .
His name had been missing from him for almost four years.
Although Murray is constantly helped by wild cards from the organizers, thanks to which he does not have to play in the qualifiers and qualify for the most prestigious tournaments without hard work, the uniqueness of his work in Novak Djokovic’s eyes has not diminished.
“Still competitive is amazing, impressive. Considering his surgery and what he’s been through in the last few years. His toughness and fighting spirit is really inspiring,” the world number one said in Madrid on Wednesday, recognizing his shock in the second round. 16 will just be an old rival.
“He’s moving really well. He’s playing better and better. It’s fantastic to watch this, because he’s a very important figure for our sport. One of the most important,” Djokovic added to the Olympic champions from London and Rio de Janeiro. that.
Currently, the title holder Sir is ranked 78th in the world and will move to Madrid at least ten places away. He will no longer need wild cards in many businesses.
On Spanish clay, Murray broke off a string of second-half defeats and, for the first time since mid-January, when he reached the final in Sydney, managed to win two games in a row.
In addition, he removed two big names from the trip. In two sets, he lost after injuring troubled 2020 US Open winner Dominic Thiem of Austria, who had lost all four of his previous duels since returning in late March. And in Wednesday’s hit, he beat the world’s twelve, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, one morning.
“I’ve been training really hard for the last five weeks and my movement is much better now than it was at the start of the year. It’s a big difference to my game. It allows me to make completely different decisions on court,” Murray suggested Roland Garros and Wimbledon takes it to a new level.
The Glasgow native, Scotland, is looking forward to a clash with Djokovic, with whom he has a negative 11:25 scoreline, although he understands who will be the favourites, although this year’s form has been insignificant.
“Theoretically, I shouldn’t stand a chance. He’s the best player in the world and I have metal hips, so that should be clear,” said Murray.
“But this is a great opportunity for me to find out how I actually did it. I haven’t played against Novak in a long time, and I don’t know if I will have this opportunity in the future,” said Brit. , who is one week older than the two acting legends.
In Madrid, he competed with Djokovic six years ago in the final and lost 1:2 in the sets.
The world number one tennis player from Serbia has not been able to enter into ideal conditions this season. Djokovic has won just six wins and three losses, following just four tournaments.
In Dubai, he was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Jiří Vesel of the Czechs, in Monte Carlo he was surprised by Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the first duel. At home in Belgrade, in the final of the third set, he was awarded the “walnut” by Russia’s Andrei Rublyev.
However, the Serbian phenomenon began to convince on Madrid clay. With 6:3, 6:2 results he knocked out Gael Monfils and improved one of the most obvious reciprocal balances in tennis history. It’s 18:0 with France.
Check out 5 amazing exchanges between Murray and Djokovic:
“Certified bacon geek. Evil social media fanatic. Music practitioner. Communicator.”
