World number one Novak Djokovic defeated Britain’s Cameron Norrie (6-4, 6-4) in the Davis Cup quarterfinals. This is Djokovic’s 21st consecutive singles victory in a Davis Cup match. Novak suffered his last defeat in 2011 against the Argentine Juan Martín del Potro. Since then he has only lost four sets. Djokovic won his 44th match for the Serbian national team in singles and doubles, allowing him to become the record holder for his country.
Novak once again confirmed his highest level on the Malaga court, but not everything went well for him. Djokovic got into a serious fight with the British fans. When Novak was interviewed on court after beating Norrie, fans of his opponent beat drums and sang loudly. The Serbian did not hold back.
“Learn to respect the players, respect the people. “Shut up, sit quietly,” Djokovic said.
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Novak later commented separately on the scandalous moment.
“It is a lack of respect. Although in the Davis Cup fans sometimes go too far, and that is normal. But in the heat of the moment, you also react. You can do what you want, but I will answer. I tried to talk, and they deliberately started beating the drums, and even before that, they tried to piss me off throughout the match. So we talked a little bit,” Djokovic said.
Novak Djokovic in the Davis Cup in Malaga
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
On November 25, Serbia will face Italy in the semifinals, where the world’s fourth-ranked player, Jannik Sinner, plays. Djokovic and Sinner traded wins at the ATP Finals in Turin last week. Yannick defeated Novak (7-5, 6-7, 7-6) in the second round of the group stage and then could not allow him to reach the playoffs, but still did not deliberately exclude the tennis legend from the fight for the title. title, he won his third round match with Holger Rune and eventually faced Djokovic in the final. Novak took the decisive match from Yannick with surprising ease: 6:3, 6:3.
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Now Djokovic and Sinner will face each other in the Davis Cup. As mentioned above, the matches take place in Malaga, Spain, which hosts the final tournament with the participation of the eight best teams. Djokovic does not like the current format of the competition, which he spoke about even before the meeting with Norrie. Currently, the group stage of the finals is played in four European cities and the playoffs in one. Since 2019, the tournament has abandoned home-and-away matches. Novak demands a change.
“Personally, I think the best format would be between the old and the new, but it is still bad for the World Group teams. It’s a shame that we haven’t played cup matches in Serbia for a long time. Our young people, the younger generation of tennis players, do not see with their own eyes how we play. Personally, I can’t formulate an ideal format for me. I think this issue should be addressed in a closed debate. We need to discuss it with the players and the teams.
Novak Djokovic is not happy with the current Davis Cup format
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Everyone should express their opinion, because so far no one from the ITF has contacted us. I think the Davis Cup is historically known at home and away. Now the tournament has been held for several years in one country: first in Madrid, now in Malaga, and this, it seems to me, is too much. The place must change. The tournament should cover the whole world,” Djokovic said.
There is a rational tone in the words of the 24-time Grand Slam champion. Previously, the British Andy Murray and the Swiss Stan Wawrinka also spoke about how unattractive the current Davis Cup format is. It is very strange to see tennis players playing with their national teams on the territory of another country. If Spain were among the participants in the Davis Cup final, Malaga would still be a viable option as a venue. But Spain missed out, losing to Djokovic-led Serbia in September.
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Finland – Australia will play the first semifinal of the Davis Cup 2023 and Serbia – Italy the second. It would seem logical that the decisive phase of the tournament would be held in one of these countries or in Canada, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands or Great Britain, whose teams were eliminated in the quarterfinals. The interest of the fans would clearly be greater, although the very fact of Djokovic’s participation attracts considerable attention from the Malaga public.
Serbia has won the Davis Cup once in history. This happened in 2010 in Belgrade. At home, the Serbians achieved victory in a tough confrontation with France (3-2). Djokovic was instrumental in the success, beating Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon.
Now Serbia, consisting of Novak, Dusan Lajovic, Laslo Djere, Miomir Kecmanovic and Hamad Medjedovic under the leadership of captain Viktor Troicki, is also close to the title. At home the chances of winning would be greater and the atmosphere would be different from that of Málaga. The same applies to holding matches in any other country participating in the decisive phase of the Davis Cup. The principle of home and away matches is actually very important in sports, especially when it comes to national teams. Time will tell if the ITF will listen to the opinion of a figure as authoritative as Novak.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS