Rent the Bulgarian 6-2 6-3 without problems and finds himself in one game from the triple figure in the tournaments won
Novak Djokovic is only one game from becoming the third player of the story to win 100 tournaments in singular career. The Serbian is in the final at Miami’s ATP 1000 after beating easily for the thirteenth time Grigor Dimitrov (6-2 6-3 the score in an hour and ten minutes) and on Sunday he will go hunting for the triple figure: before him only Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) have succeeded. For the former number one in the world, this is the final number 60 in a career in a Masters 1000 (142 total), and with twenty consecutive seasons with at least one final in a tournament equals Roger Federer. For Nole it is the final eighth in Miami, the first since 2016. Dimitrov, who in his career against Novak Djokovic won only once, in Madrid in 2013, seemed too tired (despite one more rest day), in order to fight a Djokovic returned to excellent level levels, especially at the service (87% of the first in the field), regenerated by the Care Andy Murray, the former rival. Bench leads him and encourages him, not so much as coach but as an old friend.
Djokovic in the final
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It is no coincidence that Nole is the oldest 1000 finalist in history (37 years and 301 days) and that he came out winning from what was the most “elderly” semifinal ever played at this level. The Serbian will no longer be as continuous as they once were (and we would miss) but it is still able, in the single tournament, when motivated, to remove satisfaction and to fight with the strongest. There was not much game, between Djokovic and Dimitrov, as often happened between the two in his career. The Bulgarian, 34, had also started well, with a break in the game’s opening game, but from then on he was a monologue. Too many mistakes, by Grisha, too much on the Ball Nole, almost a training for him. In the final Djokovic, for the number 100 title, will have to see it either with Taylor Fritz, who has beaten many times, or with the very young Jakub Annok, born in 2005, for a challenge that would have a generational flavor.