The news of Alex de Minaur withdrawing ahead of his first-ever Wimbledon quarter-final appearance, came as a shocker to the tennis world. At the same time, if seen from Novak Djokovic’s point of view, he would get some more rest until his semi-final match on Friday. However, Coco Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert has argued that this rest might actually came in the way of the Serb having a shot at the men’s singles title.
Throughout Wimbledon 2024, players have had to play on successive days due to rain interrupting the order of play. However, Djokovic has now been fortunate enough to receive a 3-day break between his Round of 16 and semifinals clash.
But Gilbert wrote on X that the 3-day off would rather break Djokovic’s rhythm by hampering his schedule as he does not need that much rest.
just thinking for Djoker will be 3 full days off for friday semis, kinda tricky for most players to navigate ️ practice and what to with that many days off
— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) July 10, 2024
Fans on social media respected the 62-year-old’s take. However, many of them claimed that Djokovic would be significantly fresh when he sets foot on Centre Court on Friday.
I’m sure his body doesn’t mind the rest. He will definitely be ready to go on Friday!
— TennisFanatiks (@TennisFanatiks) July 10, 2024
Had he played his 1/4 yesterday he would have had 2 days before semis. He has one more day instead of one less… I m pretty sure he can manage that way better than ending a match at 4am…
— Nathalie GP (@nathalie_gp) July 10, 2024
in his particular situation I think the benefits outweigh that.
— slav in cañon (@republikaaleks) July 10, 2024
Don’t think he’s going to mind all things considered.
— Ⓜ️ . (@Mookie__Bets) July 10, 2024
Additionally, with all the chatter surrounding the 7-time Wimbledon champion, he would most probably love the extra downtime to cool down.
Djokovic Becomes the Villain of Wimbledon 2024
After the Round of 16 clash against Holger Rune, Djokovic assumed the role of a villain when he went against the crowd. During his post-match interview, the Belgrade native made it extremely clear that he didn’t appreciate the disrespect that he was subjected to, by the spectators. Since that incident, Djokovic has polarised opinions in the tennis world.
If you missed it, the way Novak Djokovic trolled the unappreciative Wimbledon crowd, who failed to stop him winning with their booing, is something to behold… pic.twitter.com/4qxBkIxIWu
— Rob Boyd, Esq (@AvonandsomerRob) July 9, 2024
In fact, after Lorenzo Musetti won his match against Taylor Fritz on Wednesday to confirm his semi-final match up against Djokovic, something interesting happened.
When the interviewer on court mentioned the former World No.1’s name, there were hardly any cheers or a roar heard. Instead, many fans were heard booing him even as Musetti was full of praise for him.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion would look to spend some time with his family and team amidst all the drama surrounding him, putting him in a better frame of mind.
But Djokovic wouldn’t mind being the villain again if it energises him to win 2 more matches for his 8th Wimbledon title. To do that, he has got a great chance to devise a game plan to beat Musetti.
Now that he will be playing for the first time since the outburst, it’ll be interesting to see how Djokovic takes on the crowd when he steps onto the Centre Court for his semi-final duel on Friday.
