Novak Djokovic has won many titles in his career; 74, to be exact. But the timing of his triumph at the Mutua Madrid Open was more important than the victory in itself.
“I feel like this tournament win was very important for my level of confidence because after Australian Open I wasn't playing my best, I wasn't finding the right game and the consistency on the court in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo,” Djokovic said. “I felt like I was close and needed a little bit of a push, so to say.”
When the World No. 1 arrived in the Spanish capital, he had made just one quarter-final since the Australian Open. The Serbian’s dip in form was surprising considering before then, he had advanced to at least the semi-finals at nine of his previous 10 tournaments, including three Grand Slam titles and two ATP Masters 1000 triumphs.
So although there was no panic after Djokovic’s performances at Indian Wells (R32), Miami (R16) and Monte-Carlo (QF), he wanted to get back on track. He leaves Madrid after tying Rafael Nadal’s record with his 33rd Masters 1000 title.
“A very important win came yesterday against Thiem [in the semi-finals] in a very close match. And today Stefanos, who had an amazing match and win last night against Rafa, [it] probably affected him a little bit. He did not, I think, move as well as he did last night and he was probably a bit tired,” Djokovic said. “But my goal was to start off well to try to break as soon as possible, which was the case right away, and I felt I was always ahead in the game. I felt I was dictating the play and played my best tennis so far this week.”
Tsitsipas beat two Top 5 players this week in reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev and five-time winner Nadal. But he was blown away by one thing in particular from Djokovic’s side of the court.
“He has the best backhand on Tour I have ever seen in a human being. He controls it so well. He can play cross, he can play down the line the same way and that's very difficult to deal with,” Tsitsipas said. “Usually some players have a good stroke, but it's not that consistent. So I find if he's in a day where his serve works pretty well, the placement of his serve, his forehand is not his biggest weapon. He can hit it but it's not his biggest weapon. But he can, if the backhand and the serve work really well, that is why he has been dominating for so many years.”
“I want to thank him for the nice compliment. I actually thought my forehand was working very well today. I could hit it from any corner. Backhand was very solid, of course,” Djokovic said. “I was just dictating the play. I didn't really give him too much time to set himself up for a ball or try to come into the net. I tried to play fast. I tried to play deep. I tried to change the pace and direction of the ball and it has worked well.”
Everything clicked in the tournament for Djokovic, who has now left the Caja Magica with the trophy three times. The manner in which Djokovic triumphed — he did not lose a set at this event — gives him plenty of momentum as he tries to stand alone by winning a record 34th Masters 1000 trophy at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
“It's a great honour to have this trophy and to win in one of the biggest tournaments in the world,” Djokovic said. “[It’s] at the very important time for me in the year, in the season, because this gives me a lot of confidence prior to Rome and, of course, Roland Garros where I definitely want to play my best.”
