Djokovic: “I missed a lot of important smashes, but on grass I’m more comfortable”

The 23-time Grand Slam champion has very few – if any – real weaknesses. But there is one shot that has proved troublesome for the Serb over the years

Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon 2023 – © Alberto Pezzali/AP/SIPA

Sasa Ozmo

July 8, 2023

Wimbledon •Round of 16 • completed

See draw

H. HurkaczvsN. Djokovic

When you say the word “smash” to a Novak Djokovic fan, it doesn’t bring up a lot of nice memories. For many of them, what comes to mind first is the smash Djokovic missed against Rafael Nadal on a match point in the semi-finals of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008.

Indeed, in the armour of Djokovic’s game, the smash is probably the only weakness. The most recent example are two so-so smashes in the first set of the French Open finals versus Casper Ruud which could have been costly. “Could” being the operative word – they weren’t, due to the Serb’s impeccable other aspects of the game.

In the smash department, though, the win over Stan Wawrinka (6-3, 6-1, 7-6) was the exception – on a match point, Djokovic put away a very difficult smash. A Serbian reporter started the question reminding Novak of that:

“Yes, I made every smash today, which is rare!”

It’s true that I’ve missed some very important smashes in my career
Novak Djokovic

Yes, it was an incredible performance on the shot Djokovic likes the least – good reason to talk about the smash.

“It really depends which surface we’re talking about. For some reason, I am most comfortable smashing on grass, particularly compared to clay, which is a different story altogether. A lot of aspects come into play when it comes to smash execution: for what kind of ball do I get from the opponent – higher or lower, do I have to move backwards or am I standing in place etc.”

Djokovic went on to describe the match point against Wawrinka in a tight tiebreak that the 7-time Wimbledon champion ended up winning 7-5.

“I had to hit the ball moving backwards, it was a difficult situation. I chose to give the ball a bit of a slice, as I knew that the surface was going to help the effect of my shot, to make the ball slide a bit. I picked the right side. It’s true that I’ve missed some very important smashes in my career, but they worked really well in this match.”

In the fourth round of Wimbledon, Djokovic is due to face Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, against whom he holds a 5-0 record, including a four-setter at Wimbledon 2019.