Djokovic gives himself a nice birthday gift in search of the 'century mark'

Carlos Navarro | 22 May 2025 | 21.16

Novak Djokovic. Source: Getty

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The wolf is hungry and progressing appropriately. Thus, like the most obedient of students, the performances of Novak Djokovic could be classified as already just two steps away from his 100th professional title. This highly coveted achievement for Nole, however, seems like a side mission: the main one, to continue adding quality minutes on the court that prepare him for Roland Garros 2025, took a significant leap forward after his victory over Matteo Arnaldi in the quarterfinals of the ATP Geneva 2025 (6-4, 6-4). Who can stop this Djokovic?

After a convincing match against a subpar Fucsovics, the match against the Italian presented several extra incentives for the Serbian. The main one, perhaps, was to get revenge on Arnaldi, who spoiled the party for him in Madrid, which was Djokovic's last match before traveling this week to Swiss lands. The second, to have a nice celebration on his 38th birthday, with an enthusiastic crowd on his side and the presence of almost his entire family in the audience, including his daughter Tara and his parents. And the mission began in the best possible way, with an early break that showed Novak had not come to Geneva to be a mere bystander.

A SHARP BACKHAND AND A LOT OF ATTITUDE

The Serbian tried to move Arnaldi all over the court, alternating several free points on the serve with drop shots. Matteo also used this tactic frequently, although he encountered good responses from a more precise Djokovic who actively sought them out, at times changing directions with the backhand shots. Perhaps the aspect of his game that shone the most was his backhand: solid, with great depth on the cross-courts, adept at switching on the down-the-line shots and generating immense pressure that the Italian couldn't withstand. A single break was enough to tip the balance in the first set, the prelude to a second set with many more layers.

Because that's where we could see the real Novak Djokovic, the one who, on his birthday and in a 250 tournament, is as transparent with his emotions as ever. The joy of having the match under control, the frustration of stringing together a couple of games with a plethora of unforced errors, the anger of losing that control (resulting in smashing a racket after giving away a break), the hunger to regain dominance as soon as possible, and the excitement and elation of closing out the match without needing a third set.

All these facets of Novak were on display in a less brilliant second set, where Nole even showed signs of discomfort with his right knee, yet managed to avoid a potentially dangerous double break against him and waited for Arnaldi, who had much less control over his shots than in the match in Madrid, to fall apart like a house of cards. A dreadful series of games from the Italian, filled with unforced errors, paved the way for a predator who saw it as a clear sign that the match would fall in his favor without much difficulty, raising his level, regaining sharpness and precision with his shots from the baseline, and closing the evening with some excellent points.

Thus, Novak now awaits in the semifinals of the Swiss tournament the winner of the match between Alexei Popyrin and Cameron Norrie. A nice gift for his 38th birthday, one step closer to achieving the long-awaited 100th title, and another positive mark in his record to face Roland Garros with the machine finely tuned: No doubt Nole will sleep happily tonight. Any contenders to spoil his dream in future duels?

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Djokovic se da un buen regalo de cumpleaños en búsqueda del "centenariazo"