British No 1 faces his first slam semi-final in the knowledge he will have to play a perfect match to get past the Serb
After spending four long, intense and heartbreaking hours on court with Cameron Norrie during their five-set quarter-final on Tuesday and then speaking about him with admiration to the press, David Goffiin was asked the one pressing question that was still to be resolved: could Norrie beat Novak Djokovic?
“We never know, we never know,” said Goffin, although his smile and the shake of his head betrayed his doubt. “If he’s playing the tennis of his life maybe, and Novak is not feeling well, we never know, we never know. But Novak is Novak. He’s playing even better when the crowd is against him. Novak is just an alien, and to beat an alien, I don’t know how to do [it].”