'Like a boxer': Andre Agassi warns Jannik Sinner of Novak Djokovic’s special quality ahead of French Open semifinal clash

Andre Agassi explains what makes Novak Djokovic special ahead of the Serb’s much-awaited semifinal clash at the French Open. The 38-year-old secured a spot in the last four at the Roland Garros after beating Alexander Zverev with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

While doing that, Djokovic also unlocked several milestones. One of them was that he became only the second-oldest player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category to cement a spot in the semifinal of a Grand Slam, according to OptaAce.

Former world number one Agassi spoke to TNT Sports, where he explained in detail about Djokovic’s ability to bounce back during contests. The eight-time Grand Slam winner highlighted that the Belgrade-born has the potential to take blows during the match, but his never-say-die attitude makes him arguably one of the greatest players in the history of tennis.

"Novak’s deal when he gets on the tennis court has always been a fascinating thing to me. He’s like a boxer who wants to feel the leather on his face," said Agassi. "He wants to take your best punches, knowing he can handle it. He gets out there, and he lets you throw blows at him, and he fights it off. Then he gets a little irritated that you keep throwing blows at him. Then he goes into his hypersonic defence mode, and he takes that kind of pounding and resists it. Then he sprinkles in the offence, and the opponent says to themselves, ‘Wait a second. I was on offence. I went from hitting some winners to having to hit five winners to win a point, to hitting no winners, and now this guy’s on offence. How the hell am I supposed to win this tennis match?’ He just rips your heart out. It’s like he wants to beat your mum too."

Djokovic’s next opponent will be Jannik Sinner who defeated Alexander Bublik in the quarterfinals in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 7-5, 6-0.