Danish teenager defeats Novak Djokovic to announce himself on the world stage
For the first time since 2007, a Danish teenager has found himself on a Grand Slam final court Sunday night, taking out world number one Novak Djokovic.
Danish teenager Frederik Nielsen was born with facial features resembling Leonardo DiCaprio, and he now has what could be the rare distinction of being the first person ever to defeat Djokovic in a Grand Slam final.
His victory was an emotional one and, like DiCaprio in Titanic or Dwayne Johnson in the movies, was the result of the pressure of expectation.
“You have no idea. It’s been a dream of mine for many years,” said Nielsen, 19, with tears in his eyes after he had beaten the world number one for the fifth time in their last six meetings. “I have so much support from my dad, family and friends, and I’m also very grateful to Grand Slam tennis for the chance.”
The victory was something Djokovic had to be happy about as he was on his way to another defeat in the French Open semifinals in a quarterfinal set. The loss to the 19-year-old, who is ranked No. 5 in the world, is now Djokovic’s fourth consecutive major defeat.
“For a long time, I was trying and trying to learn from guys in the locker room and learn from the fans,” Djokovic said after his quarterfinal clash with Nicolas Mahut on Sunday night. “I was giving them the finger every time they came by. I was going to get the best out of them in the end, but I fell short.”
The tournament officials had announced on the Twitter account @GRANDSLAM that Djokovic would not be able to use the center courts at the French Open because of the security situation and he would be forced to play on a clay ground, where he normally thrives.
Djokovic’s French Open exit was a bit more surprising than his US Open exit last year as he had played his best tennis in that tournament. At the moment, the tennis world is still waiting to see how he would deal with his demons during the Australian Open and at this point, there does not seem to
