London [UK], July 12 : Following his win over Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinal of Wimbledon championship, Serbian tennis great Novak Djokovic said that he considers himself as a favourite to win the tournament.
Djokovic denied Andrey Rublev his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal spot as he defeated the Russian in the quarterfinal on Tuesday.
Djokovic is chasing his 24th Grand Slam title, his fifth-successive title at London and record-tying eighth Wimbledon triumph. After the win over Rublev, when asked about the players who could stop his run, Djokovic said, "It ain’t happening!".
The world number 2 later said at the press conference that he is the favourite.
"I do not want to sound arrogant, but of course, I would consider myself the favourite. Judging with the results I had in my career here, previous four occasions of Wimbledon that I won, I do consider [myself] the favourite," said Djokovic, according to ATP.
Djokovic will play his 46th semifinal at a major against Jannik Sinner, who will be featuring in his maiden semis. But Sinner has a reason to believe that he can outdo Djokovic as at last year's Wimbledon, he initially had a two-sets-to-love lead over the Serbian before fumbling it.
The Serbian has not lost at the Centre Court since 2013 final. Djokovic has a 33-match winning streak at London, dating back to 2017. The last time he lost a fully-completed match was in 2016 to Sam Querrey in the third round.
The player Serbian has had unbelievable success in these London lawns and stated that he is not sliding on grass as much this year.
"I think as the tournament goes on, I think us players, we feel more comfortable moving on the grass. So for some of us, like Sinner, for example, and [Carlos] Alcaraz, they like to slide. I think you become more comfortable going for the slide,” Djokovic said.
"Maybe at the beginning you feel like walking on eggs a little bit because the grass is also more slippery at the beginning, particularly if you play indoors under the roof."
"I think that this is the least that I was sliding on grass ever, to be honest. Whether that is conscious or unconscious, I am not really sure. I am still yet trying to figure out. Sometimes sliding is not the best option on grass. Sometimes it is. It just depends on the ball and the situation," he concluded.
Djokovic termed his match with Rublev as a dogfight.
"It was like a dogfight…some points of the match were so long and exhausting. Those games at the end of the third set [is] where basically the match was decided. I felt like a huge relief when I won the third set, and in the fourth again made the crucial break and held my nerves till the end. For sure the best quality tennis Rublev has played that I have faced him in the previous matches in Grand Slams," he concluded.
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