The former Swiss top player explains how Novak Djokovic has changed his tactics to counteract his aging process. What amazed observers most about Roger Federer. And why he believes Rafael Nadal will continue to achieve great success.
Novak Djokovic is on course for his eleventh title in Melbourne – despite vehement resistance in the quarter-finals from American Taylor Fritz.
Mast Irham / EPA
Heinz Günthardt, it looks like Novak Djokovic’s dominance continues unabated. He is aiming for his eleventh title at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Only now, in the quarterfinals against Taylor Fritz, was he seriously challenged for the first time. How long can this continue?
It’s just a question of his body. As long as Djokovic stays physically healthy, he will always be difficult to beat. In terms of tennis, he is at the highest level. In addition, he serves even better today than he did a few years ago. This makes it easier for him to complete his service games and receive one or two free points.
Do you see any further development in him?
In the context of Djokovic, the word development is a bit strange. I would rather speak of an adjustment. I have already mentioned the service. When he tried to change it a few years ago, it didn’t initially work. But now he serves so well that he often goes on the offensive and to the net. As a former serve-and-volley player, that of course makes me feel good. I was once told a few years ago that you can no longer win tournaments this way. Novak played serve-and-volley on important points in the final of the last US Open against Daniil Medvedev and scored points that way. This certainly has something to do with the fact that he no longer gets involved in too long rallies and wants to shorten them. If it were a car, you would say it now has a little more drive. Djokovic has always had endless talent.
How long can you stay at the level he is currently playing at?
I’m probably the wrong person to answer this question. I had to end my career at the age of 26 due to a damaged hip. But the Australian Ken Rosewall was still in the final at Wimbledon at 40. Tennis is an extremely challenging sport and the demands are getting higher and higher. Sooner or later the body rebels and at some point something breaks. Then it will be difficult to reconnect.
Is Rafael Nadal at this point today? The Spaniard’s comeback ended in Brisbane at the beginning of January after just two games.
Nadal is an exceptional case. He’s been playing at the limit for a long time. I can’t remember the last time he played through a full season without injury (it was 2019, ed.). He often started or finished a match when he shouldn’t have done so. Simply because he felt obliged to a sponsor or didn’t want to spoil the victory of an opponent. This is not only a physical strain, but also a psychological one. If you can’t push yourself to the limit in training, you no longer trust your body 100 percent on the pitch. You then try to protect yourself and avoid it, which in turn can lead to muscular imbalances and new problems. The fact that Nadal is still fighting for his comeback shows that he must really love tennis.
The former top player and current Fed Cup captain Heinz Günthardt is one of the most prominent observers of the international tennis scene.
Pius Amrein / Neue Luzerner Zeitung
Nadal wants to return to the tour in the European clay court season. Do you trust him to win again in Paris and celebrate his 15th title at Roland-Garros?
From a tennis point of view, sure. Whenever Nadal returned, he immediately returned to playing at the top level. His performance two years ago at the Australian Open, when he was 0-2 sets down in the final against Medvedev and still won, is for me one of the greatest achievements I have ever seen in tennis. That’s why I would never write off Rafa. Watching him play on sand is a kind of poetry. Like Federer on the grass at Wimbledon or Djokovic on the hard surfaces of Melbourne.
There he is again, Novak Djokovic, who has outshined everyone else with his victories. There are already people who say that the Italian Jannik Sinner will be a bigger challenge for him in the future than the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. How do you see that?
If I remember correctly, Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in a five-set match at Wimbledon last summer. Sinner hasn’t managed to do that yet. The two represent different challenges for the Serb. Sinner is stronger offensively and can push Djokovic back more. But Alcaraz plays better defensively. That makes it difficult even for Djokovic to hit winners against him.
The generation around Alexander Zverev, which was supposed to challenge Djokovic, seems to be losing touch.
Zverev has the potential to beat anyone on the tour. On a good day, he can push any opponent away with the force of his punches. So far, however, he has lacked the consistency to play seven best-of-five matches in a Grand Slam tournament over two weeks without a drop in performance. Two years ago, when he met Nadal in the semi-finals in Paris and seriously injured his ankle in that match, he probably played his best tennis. Who knows, if he hadn’t made the mistake, that might have been his moment.
There is a clear hierarchy among men, while there is arbitrariness among women, even in Australia. The winners change constantly. In Melbourne, only three of the top ten reached the second week of the tournament.
There are three players who are a little better than the rest. Poland’s Iga Swiatek is very consistent on clay. For me, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and the American Coco Gauff rank a little higher than the others. It will be very interesting to see whether Gauff can raise her level to a new level after winning the US Open. Athletically, but also in terms of her movements, she is the best for me despite being only 19 years old. And her understanding of tennis is also above average. Gauff has that certain something that separates the best from the rest.
At just 19 years old, the American Coco Gauff is already one of the stars on the women’s tour. After her victory at the US Open in the fall, she is also on course for the title in Melbourne.
Edgar Su / Reuters
How do you expect Belinda Bencic to return, who is expecting her first child soon?
I am sure that she will be able to play tennis very well again very quickly. Her timing is one of the best on the women’s tour. She intuitively hits the ball correctly. You hardly ever see a ball bouncing off the frame. Once you have that, it’s similar to riding a bike: you don’t forget it. With Belinda the question is more: How much can she continue to concentrate fully on tennis? With her role as a mother, a lot will change in her life. But there are also examples like that of the Belgian Kim Clijsters, who inspired this role. Clijsters didn’t win three of her four major titles until she was a mother.
The Swiss men’s hopes rest on Dominic Stricker. Rightly so?
Dominic is undoubtedly a gifted tennis player. Similar to Bencic, he is intuitively right. His timing and understanding of the game are above average. But I’m worried that he’s been injured again and again lately. This also gives those around him something to think about.
Isn’t he fully trained?
He’s always been accused of that. Wrongfully so, in my opinion. It has to do with the way he plays. Stricker has one ability that sets him apart: he stands correctly by nature. That was the case when I saw him for the first time when I was 13 or 14 years old. Wherever the ball went, Stricker was already there. Why should he move more when he’s in the right place?
And how far along is Leandro Riedi, who was long considered Stricker’s tennis twin?
Stricker shone with his positional play, Riedi is a rocket in terms of speed. This means that he sometimes looks for the points a bit quickly and is not patient enough. He is also injured too often. When he returned from his recent injury break at the beginning of January, he immediately won a Challenger tournament in Portugal. Riedi has great potential. But when he comes under stress, he tries to use strength, which sometimes overwhelms his body. He has to work on that. The combination of intensity, ambition and composure is what amazed observers most about Roger Federer.
We can’t end this conversation without saying a word about Stan Wawrinka. Like Nadal, the soon-to-be 39-year-old Romand is struggling with recurring injuries and he doesn’t want to give up either. How much longer can he keep this up?
Like I said, tennis is a brutal sport. A five-set match on a hard surface in 35 degree heat, like the one Stan played against Adrian Mannarino in the first round in Melbourne, pushes every player to their performance limits. But if you have the passion like Wawrinka and still make it into the main draws of the big tournaments, why shouldn’t you keep playing? I feel like Stan is enjoying being on the pitch almost more today than he did ten years ago when he won his first major title in Melbourne. For him, it’s no longer about winning tournaments, but about playing on the big pitches in front of lots of spectators. When he hits his wonderful one-handed backhand, it knocks the audience out of their seats. The audience sees and honors his passion, and he enjoys feeling their recognition.