Novak Djokovic endured another tough day at the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters, but he was once again able to emerge victorious, which is the most important thing.
The Serbian is winning matches this week, but it's not coming to him quite as easily as we've gotten used to him. In fairness, he did play down expectations leading up to this event, admitting that this was mostly a preparation week for him.
As always, the goal is to peak at Roland Garros, and that's why this week should be taken with a pinch of salt. He still wants to win, of course, but he was being realistic when he said that.
The first match was amazing, and the second one was pretty good, but he experienced shaking during the match, which caused some worry. This third match, which was a quarter-final against Alex de Minaur, was again pretty good, but he suffered a very nasty fall, which could have been quite bad.
Luckily, he was able to continue, and win the first set, in which it happened. Throughout the match, Djokovic was the better player, but only slightly initially. De Minaur improved a lot on clay and pushed the Serbian quite a bit in the opening set, but he wasn't good enough.
He missed quite a lot as he attempted to be the more dominant player in rallies, and ultimately, it mattered. The 24-time Grand Slam champion was simply better in the crucial rallies.
The Australian also didn't serve as well, making it much easier for Djokovic to be more dangerous. The second set was quite different and chaotic, as neither player could comfortably hold serve.
There was only one break in the first set and six breaks in the first seven games of the second set. The set ended at 5-4 when Djokovic created more break chances, which were match points.
This time around there was no 'retry' for de Minaur and the match ended, with Djokovic emerging victorious, 7-5, 6-4, awaiting the winner of the match between Casper Ruud and Ugo Humbert in the final.