Serbian Novak Djokovic’s spicy exchange with the crowd as he advances in the Monte Carlo Masters 1000

Despite experiencing a sensational moment at the start of the 2024 season, Novak Djokovic He made it very clear who the world number one is after defeating the Italian Lorenzo Musetti by 7-5, 6-3 and entered the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000.

In a complicated match and with some spicy encounters, Nole demonstrated that negative streaks don’t last forever. Little by little the beast is waking up, after taking the first step in his tournament debut Aleksandar Vukicwho welcomed him with a difficult match that ended with the Serbian winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

A few weeks after ending her relationship with her coach Goran Ivanisevicwith whom he won 12 Grand Slam titles, Djokovic gave the gift in Monaco with his compatriot Nenad Zimonjicthe former world number one.

With a new coach at this time and a hunger for revenge, Djokovic managed to come back in the match against Musetti, number 24 in the ranking, who exactly one year ago eliminated the Serbian from these same fields in the third round. Despite some concentration in the first matches, Nole overturned the result by suffering a break and receiving boos from the Italian public who were cheering for his opponent.

It seems that this only served as an incentive to take the reins of the game. While Djokovic questioned whether the Italian had hit the ball, saying he had clearly hit it outside the lines, The crowd started booing and booing, but Nole just laughed.. She immediately urged the spectators to continue booing him, making gestures that she did not clearly hear. And to close, He transformed himself into an orchestra conductor, directing the whistles with his hands. and a smile that promised much more.

From then on, a click which turned the entire game on its head. With the help of his new coach, who managed to guide the Serbian towards his revenge, Djokovic got two breaks at key moments, taking the first set from Musetti. “There was a little exchange with the crowd at 4-3, 40/0 for him and from then on the dynamic changed,” Djokovic said after the match.

In the second set there were a couple of obstacles that he managed to overcome to finally take the victory. “We saw a bit of a roller coaster in the second set, then I’m happy that staying strong and aggressive in difficult times has paid off.”, analyzed the Serbian on his performance.

In a post-match press conference, Djokovic spoke in more detail about the exchange with spectators: “I try to transform energy into something that is constructive for me. I’m not looking for problems with the public. If they start booing, I’ll play better. It’s not my type of mentality, but if people start reacting in a certain way that I don’t think I deserve, that I don’t feel is right or explainable, I will react,” admitted the 36-year-old Serbian.

His next fight will be with the Australian Alex de Minaurwho defeated his compatriot Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-4 and became the tournament’s first quarter-finalist and the first Australian in 25 years to reach this stage of the tournament.

The sinner remains strong

Jannik Sinner left no room for surprises. The Italian, second favorite and best player of the season so far, needed only an hour and 16 minutes to beat Jan Lennard Struff and reach the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo. There he went 6-4 and 6-2 to meet Denmark’s Holger Rune and be one win away from securing number two in the rankings.

With an efficiency of 85% on the first serve (he won 22 of the 26 points played this way), four breaks for and only one against (at the beginning of the first set), Sinner dominated an opponent who is usually very strong on clay and who had beaten Sebastián Báez on his debut.

“I had already played with him and I knew what to expect, but he is still a dangerous opponent. You always have to be careful against him, especially in three sets. I take it as a good victory. I’m happy”, analyzed the Sancandino 22 years ago.

The Italian, champion in Australia, Rotterdam and Miami in a year in which he lost only one match (in the semi-final of Indian Wells against Carlos Alcaraz), reached the quarter-finals in the Principality for the third consecutive season. He is the fourth youngest player to reach the top eight of this tournament in three consecutive seasons, after Mats Wilander, Rafael Nadal and Bjorn Borg.

With the aim of reaching the semi-final so as not to lose the second step of the ranking in the hands of Alcaraz, Sinner will now face Rune, who scored a brace and eliminated Grigor Dimitrov.

The Danish, seeded seventh, had to take to the court early to complete his match against the Indian Sumit Nagal, coming from the qualifiers, suspended on Wednesday due to rain in the second set. And he had to wait for the third to close 6-3, 3-6 and 6-2. Meanwhile Dimitrov, seeded ninth, eliminated Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-3, in another duel pending from the previous day.

Shortly afterwards, Rune and Dimitrov were the protagonists of a three and a half hour battle, in which the twenty-year-old Dane saved two match points before sealing his victory 7-6 (11-9), 3-6 and 7. -6 (7-2).