Novak Djokovic's wife Jelena reacts to Serb reaching Paris Masters 2023 final in pursuit of record 7th title
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic's wife, Jelena, has reacted to her husband making it to the final of the 2023 Paris Masters. Djokovic is aiming for a record seventh title in Paris.
The Serb's campaign this year couldn't have begun better. He defeated the likes of Tomas Etcheverry, Tallon Griekspoor and Holger Rune to advance to the semifinals.
Djokovic squared off against Andrey Rublev in the last-four contest on Saturday, in what turned out to be a nail-biting contest. The Russian claimed the first set and pushed the second to a tiebreak, which his opponent won. The 24-time Grand Slam champion eventually secured the win with a final score of 5-7, 7-6(3), 7-5.
Djokovic will now face his old rival Grigor Dimitrov in the summit clash on November 5. Dimitrov is coming in on the back of a 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-6(3) win against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
This will be their 13th career meeting, with the head-to-head record being 11-1 in the Serb's favor.
Novak Djokovic has moved a step closer to lifting his second Masters 1000 trophy of the year, having previously won in Cincinnati. His wife, Jelena, took to her Instagram stories to react to her husband reaching the final at the Paris Masters.
She wrote:
"Let's go." (Translated from Serbian)
Novak Djokovic - "Andrey Rublev was suffocating me like a snake suffocates a frog"
During his on-court interview after the semifinal, Novak Djokovic said Andrey Rublev was 'suffocating him like a snake suffocates a frog,' which made it difficult for him to score an easy win.
"[Andrey] Rublev was suffocating me like a snake suffocates a frog for most of the match. He was playing an extremely high level that he possesses, but today he was off the charts, honestly. I don’t think I’ve ever faced Rublev this good," he was quoted as saying by ATP Tour's official website.
The Serb then talked about the stomach issues he had been experiencing for several days, and also about how he found the strength to make a comeback from a set behind.
"[I have been] going through quite a difficult stomach virus that really made me feel terrible the past three days, but somehow managing to find strength, find energy under the adrenaline rush of playing a match," he said.
"Not giving up, fighting and believing that I can come back, which happened again and hopefully it can happen tomorrow," he added.
After the conclusion of the Paris Masters, the 36-year-old's focus will shift to the ATP Finals, which will be held from November 12 to 19 in Turin, Italy.