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“It’s Pretty Much the Same”: Novak Djokovic on the Opponents he is Facing

Published 08/26/2020, 5:30 PM EDT

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The World No.1 Novak Djokovic has booked his place in the quarterfinals of the Western and Southern Open 2020. Djokovic defeated Tennys Sandgren in straight sets dropping no service game.

During the post-match conference, Djokovic talked about this season being unusual because of the suspension of the ATP tour amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

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“Well, obviously, the season is different because we had a six-month hole in the calendar. But the season has restarted as well, in the circumstances that we just have to accept they are as they are,” said Novak.

After the Serbian withdrew from the doubles match last week, he seemed to be bogged down by neck pain during his second-round match against Ričardas Berankis. The 17-time grand slam champion also had to undertake a medical timeout to address the issue. Due to the neck pain, Djokovic’s service was getting hampered, but he showed considerable improvement during his match against Sandgren today.

Quality of tennis hasn’t changed: Djokovic

Despite many top-players pulling out of the US Open 2020, Djokovic went to say that despite the strict restrictions the quality of tennis has remained the same.

“But, in terms of the quality of tennis, in terms of the opponents that I get to face it, it is pretty much the same. So, I am treating this tournament and this restart as normal as it can possibly be” added the World No.1 after his third-round victory over Tennys Sandgren.

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Djokovic has an unbeaten 20-0 streak this year and has a strong chance of ending the season undefeated. In 2011, Djokovic had an incredible 41 match winning streak which was broken by Roger Federer in the 2011 French Open semifinal.

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The Serbian continued his typical celebration style after his third-round victory at Cincinnati Masters. The reigning Australian Open champion will face Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarterfinal who ousted seventh-seeded David Goffin.

As the US Open 2020 starts next week, Djokovic might clinch a record 18th grand slam title to move closer to his arch-rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

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Written by:

Kshitij Tayal

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Kshitij Tayal is a tennis author at EssentiallySports. Having played district-level tennis competitions, Kshitij is also a tenured journalist of the sport with over four years of experience. At EssentiallySports, he pens down some thought-provoking pieces on players and tournaments across the ATP and WTA.
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