When Denis Shapovalov stepped down to play Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Wimbledon on Friday, the Canadian knew he'd probably have to play perfect tennis and take his chances to win.
He secured the first task with some scintillating ball-striking and superb hitting, for a thrilling long long run on center court.
But when it really mattered, in the biggest moments, the door was shut in his face by the game's greatest defender and a man whose resilience is as great a weapon as anything in the game.
It was Novak Djokovic, not at his absolute fluent best, but mentally ruthless, smart and stubborn as ever, cutting mistakes, pushing his opponent to do more, going out of his comfort zone. for. All or nothing.
Shapovalov, a left-hander who plays high-risk tennis, created several chances. The problem was that he couldn't take them, and although his explosive, thrilling style had the crowd gasping at times, he eventually lost in straight sets 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-5.
Djokovic said, 'I don't think the scoreline says much about the match. "He worked for the first set and he was probably the better player for the second set.
"But there is no stopping. There is no question of giving up."
Shapovalov was proud of the way he performed in his first Slam semi-final and the way he played showed that he might one day win the title. But Djokovic refused to go off the court, got everything he could and even threw in the serve and volley on the big points, his tennis IQ kicking at the biggest points as usual.
"Against Novak, you're going to get some chances you're not going to get," said Shapovalov, who was in tears as he walked off the court, realizing he was close to reaching a Slam final for the first time. kicking quickly.
"He does a really good job of applying pressure when he needs to, and you absolutely feel it in those moments. He makes the move. He does it really well.
"I've had chances in every set. Just gone today. I mean, obviously he's No. 1 in the world, so he's there for a reason. He's obviously played a lot of matches, a little bit," he said. And experience. Just probably played better, maybe a little luckier, more lucky than me in the big moments today and that was it.
"I had a lot of chances. I was setting my game [with] a lot. I thought he felt that way. I did everything I could today, and it didn't go my way." But I felt I had all three sets. Too many chances, too many break points. It just didn't go my way."
"It's a learning process for me. Hopefully I can take a lot out of this match and use it to move forward."
In this incredible era when the Big Three of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have won 59 of the last 71 Slams, chances for the generations below them have been few and far between. Although his time at the top will soon be over, Djokovic remains the ultimate challenger.
Every time Shapovalov thought he was on the run—and he had 11 break points—Djokovic was there, rock-solid, refusing to budge, putting pressure on Shapovalov, who either missed or missed him. Didn't get the gap he needed.
It's a resilience that's suffocating, and Djokovic continues to prove it again and again, as he did at Wimbledon in 2019, when Federer had two match points in the final set but couldn't overcome them. Serb was going to take the title for the fifth time
Of course, Djokovic is also playing for a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title and the third tier of the calendar year Grand Slam, which no one has done since Rod Laver in 1969. He will take on Matteo Berrettini on Sunday.
It was said that beating Nadal on clay at Roland Garros was the hardest thing in tennis. Perhaps now defeating Djokovic, as he is chasing yet more glory, is the hardest thing he has ever done.