“It is absurd that Novak was able to make the finals of this event” : Andy Roddick on the Serbian’s incredible Wimbledon run
Novak Djokovic reached the finals of the 2024 Wimbledon, where he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets. Despite his defeat in the finals, the Serbian deserves huge praise for making it so far in the tournament given that he had a surgery just two weeks earlier
American tennis legend Andy Roddick stated that it was quite incredible that Novak Djokovic could reach the finals of Wimbledon. The three-time Wimbledon runner-up opined that the Serbian entered the event without much preparation, and his fitness levels were severely impacted due to his surgery.
Novak Djokovic looked quite comfortable on his way to the finals, defeating players like Holger Rune, Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets. “It is absurd that Novak was able to make the finals of this event. Surgery, no fitness, not a lot of tennis, no matches. Finals at Wimbledon,” Roddick said on the ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast.
“Gave yourself a look at the basket. Props to him. Novak had no reps, no fitness, all he was trying to do was get healthy enough to play his first round and then after that, healthy enough to play second round, so on and so forth.”
“Carlos Alcaraz exposed him in the finals” : Andy Roddick on Novak Djokovic
Andy Roddick stated that Carlos Alcaraz exposed Novak Djokovic’s flaws in the final. The American believes that the Serbian played his cards a bit too early, and his best chance of having any shot of winning the final was to slow down the match.
Andy Roddick stated that Carlos Alcaraz gave no chance to the former world number one to settle down in the match. The seven-time Wimbledon champion saw a slight ray of hope in the final set, as Carlos Alcaraz lost his serve from 0-40, having three championship points. However, the Spaniard eventually managed to win the set, and the match in the tiebreaker.
“For people to say ‘Oh he wasn’t moving great’, well no kidding. You have to practice to be great at something. Through no fault of his own he didn’t have those quick reps and when you get to the top level of the game, those margins get exposed quickly and I think that’s what happened,” said Roddick.
“My gut, based on his strategy coming forward, going line early was that he didn’t have confidence making those quick adjustments and Carlos exposed him. He went big when he had to, hit those dropshots when he had to, took second serves early, [he] did not want Novak to get settled and when Novak had a shot because he was unsettled, [he] maybe pulled the trigger a little bit too early,” he added.
