Novak Djokovic struggles to get rhythm in finals

Novak Djokovic. Pic/AFP

Injures are part and parcel of sport, but when they happen at an inopportune time, especially with great players, then there's a great deal of sadness. That is what the tennis world feels right now as Rafa Nadal, after an epic quarter-finals match against young Taylor Fritz which he won in five sets, announced the next day that he wouldn't be able to play the semi-finals due to a tear in his abdominal muscle. At his age taking a chance of aggravating the injury by playing was simply not worth it and so, he had to reluctantly pull out and so miss out on the opportunity of a crack at the Grand Slam of winning all four majors in the calendar year.

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Last year, Novak Djokovic had that chance, but he just couldn't get his game together in the final of the US Open and lost to Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. So Rod Laver remains the last player to do the Grand Slam when he won all the four majors in 1969.

Djokovic has reached the final and will be looking to win his 21st major to go ahead of Roger Federer and one behind Rafa Nadal who has 22 under his belt. He will be up against the mercurial Nick Kyrgios who has been playing some extraordinary tennis along with his usual antics which garner more headlines than his game. This is probably only the third time that Kyrgios has made it to the second week of a major tournament in the singles and his final will be worth watching as there's not much love lost between him and Djokovic. He has already been holding his shoulder and getting treatment for it on the court in between games, so there is a ready made excuse in case he loses. But as we saw in the US Open final last year as well as some earlier finals, Djokovic struggles to get his rhythm in finals and ends up losing. So if Kyrgios gets going straight away, he could stop the Serb from winning his
21st major.

Professional Management Group