Alexander Zverev calls Novak Djokovic 'greatest of all time' after losing US Open SF

Novak Djokovic confirmed his spot in the US Open 2021 finals by getting his revenge over Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Saturday. The World No.1 Djokovic will now face World no. 3 Daniil Medvedev in a high-intensity final scheduled to be played on September 13. He defeated World no. 4 Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, and 6-2 in the semifinals at the Flushing Meadows. Djokovic is now in line to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to complete the Grand Slam.

Djokovic had lost in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics to the German despite winning the first set, this time, however, Djokovic managed to come back from a set down to make it 2-1, lost the fourth set, and then demolished Zverev in the fifth. Zverev did try his best but was unable to pull off what would have been an amazing comeback.

Zverev spoke at a post-match press conference and said, "It was a great battle. Kind of a little bit disappointed with the start of the fifth set. To be honest, apart from that, it was a good match. I think we both left it all out there. The second break in the fifth set was so ridiculously unlucky that it sometimes happen. But he's No.1 in the world for a reason and he showed that tonight," Zverev was quoted as saying by the ATP Tour website.

Djokovic the 'greatest of all time' according to Zverev

Zverev then spoke about how Djokovic edged past him, saying that the Serbian comes up with the best test tennis when he needs to. He then added that mentally, Djokovic is the best player to play the game and the German also said that in the most important moments, he would rather play anybody else but Djokovic.

He comes up with the best tennis when he needs to. There is a reason why he's won 20 Grand Slams. There's a reason why he's spent the most weeks at World No. 1. There's a lot of reasons for that. I think mentally he's the best player to ever play the game. Mentally in the most important moments, I would rather play against anybody else but him. If you look at the stats, if you look at the pure game of tennis action, he's the greatest of all time. Nobody is there with him, because most weeks World No. 1, most ATP Masters 1000 titles, most likely going to be the most Grand Slams at the end of the day. And he has the chance of winning all four in the same year. How do you compete with that?

(Image: AP)