Novak Djokovic left many of his opponents with nightmares and Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov are no different.
The Serbian made a career of systematically dissecting his opponents as he recorded victory after victory to establish himself as an all-time great.
The 37-year-old transformed into a machine on court who is extremely difficult to break down, something Thiem and Shapovalov know all too well.
During an interview with UTS Tour, they described what it was like to play against the 24-time Grand Slam winner and current Olympic champion.
Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov describe what it was like to play Novak Djokovic
Playing against Novak Djokovic is one of the most difficult takas in tennis history. He is one of the most consistent and mentally resilient players of all time and he always finds a way to produce his best tennis when it matters most.
This is something Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov found out during their matches against Djokovic in their careers.
Recalling their experiences playing against the former World number one, Shapovalov said: “I remember Paris the year I made finals, I played him in the finals and I heard rumours he had been sick all week. He was drinking his juices and drinking stuff all the time.
“I was like I have got him, I am playing the best tennis of my life. The guy is not feeling good, he’s not 100%. This is my chance. No chance. The guy was toying with me.”
Thanasi Kokkinakis, who was also part of the UTS Tour interview, added: “The worst is when the crowd make him p*****. If he starts yelling at the crowd, back your bags.”
Adding to the Australian’s comments about how Djokovic responds to booing from the crowd, Shapovalov said: “If he gets p****** it’s over,” before Thiem commented: “It’s so bad, you’re like please crowd, please crowd. Please just be quiet!”
What is Novak Djokovic’s head-to-head record against Denis Shapovalov, Dominic Thiem and Thanasi Kokkinakis?
Djokovic has a positive head-to-head record against Shapovalov, Thiem and Kokkinakis.
In the eight matches he played against Shapovalov, Djokovic is undefeated and he has dropped just two sets across those battles.
Djokovic has played Kokkinakis just twice, and both meetings came at a Grand Slam. Not only did Djokovic win those matches, he went on to claim the title.
The rivalry is much closer between Djokovic and Thiem, who played 12 matches against each other.
Djokovic claimed seven victories, five of which came in the pair’s first five matches. Their last meeting came at the 2020 ATP Finals, where Thiem rallied from 0-4 down in the final tiebreak to claim a 7-5 6-7(10) 7-6(5).
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