Physically?

Every time, it’s the same old story: Djoko arrives completely burnt out at the end of a Grand Slam. And after his matches this year at Wim, especially the quarter against Félix, I don’t see why this edition would be any different. Except for that slightly more irrational side of: “this is probably his best shot at grabbing the 25th.” So I think he’ll come in with a pretty aggressive game plan so he doesn’t have to endure and gradually collapse physically. And he must have seen Sinner struggling against Safiullin, for example. On the other hand, how aggressive he can be will probably depend on his physical fuel gauge (and so it’ll drop as the match goes on, unless he gets a second wind).

On the Italian side, it’s not ideal form, but he’s winning fairly quickly and he’s coming off a good physical break after Roland. So physically, with 28–29 degrees today, it should be fine. Tennis-wise, like Djoko, their serving quality will be hugely important. They both have insane stats and they both know how to raise the bar even higher in big matches. And yes, this match is also massively important for Sinner, who finds himself in July without a single GS title!

You always want to believe in Djoko. The guy is immortal. And even if Sinner isn’t his usual Demolition Man self, he’s still a tough match-up for Djoko because he does everything like him, but in a more aggressive and more powerful version. So yeah…