Novak Djokovic in action at Wimbledon. Best Image / BACKGRID See more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The New York Post on Google Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas have met three times at Grand Slams. Twice in a final and once in a semifinal.
On Wednesday, the two will battle in Round 2 of Wimbledon.
Djokovic is 12-2 against Tsitsipas in his career, and it’s no surprise that the Serb is a prohibitive favorite to advance past the Greek and into Round 3.
At his best, Tsitsipas was one of the most exciting players in tennis. He wasn’t afraid to make mistakes and preferred to play a forward-court style of game that put his opponent under pressure.
His elite serve and powerful forehand made him quite a chore to handle, but he also would lose the plot during matches and come undone with mental mistakes.
In recent years, we’ve seen a lot more of the latter.
Tsitsipas still has the power and finesse to dominate a match, as he did against Hugo Gaston in Round 1, but he also is just as likely to look disinterested and beat himself with mistakes and a lack of sharpness.
Djokovic typically feasts on those kinds of players.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has played Novak Djokovic 14 times. Getty Images There are many superpowers that Djokovic boasts, but his stoicism may be the most underrated. While Tsitsipas will ride the emotional roller coaster up and down, the 24-time Grand Slam champion will just allow him to come unglued.
And there’s a good chance of that happening in this stylistic setup.
While Tsitsipas will want to keep points short and just lean into his power, Djokovic has made a career of absorbing and countering against aggressive opponents. If you can’t tolerate long rallies, you can’t tolerate Djokovic.
Things were a little gritty for Djokovic in a four-set win over Yibing Wu, but I expect the all-time great to make quick work of the polarizing Tsitsipas on Wednesday afternoon.
The Play: Novak Djokovic -2.5 sets (+100, FanDuel)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
