The Serbian tennis player lost his undefeated streak in Grand Slam competition against Jannik Sinner and said it was “the worst match he played.”
Novak Djokovic, 10-time Australian Open champion and unbeaten in this tournament since 2018sought to break his record with a 25th Grand Slam title, but Jannik Sinner thwarted his glorious plans by defeating him 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8) and 6-3 in the semi-finals. “I have never played a tournament up to my standards”admitted the world number one.
“He completely dominates me now. In another way, I was surprised by my level, in the negative sense. He hardly did anything good in the first two sets. I think it was one of the worst matches I’ve played in a Grand Slam. “It’s not pleasant for me to play like that.”began the Serb, very self-critical, in a press conference that concluded the defeat against the Italian.
While the streak of 2,195 unbeaten days, 33 straight wins and four consecutive titles and the Sinner’s performancedeclared Djokovic:“The series has to end one day. At least I did my best in the times I didn’t play well. I lost against a player who had a good chance of winning his first Grand Slam. This city is very special to me, it is the Grand Slam where I have had the most success. It is a pleasure “Started most of my seasons with a Grand Slam title and never lost in the semi-finals and final of the Australian Open.”.
However, Novak remains calm, despite the loss, because it is the beginning of the season, even if he is not used to it. “I maintain high ambitions for the other Grand Slam, for the Olympic Games and the other contests I will participate in. The season just started and this is not how I usually feel. I haven’t played the tournament up to my standards, the level I usually play at or the level I expect to play at. But this does not mean that this is the beginning of the end. “Let’s see what happens the rest of the season.”
Finally, he hailed number 4 in the ATP ranking:“Bravo to him because he did everything better than me. I tried, I fought, I managed to raise my level a bit in the third set, but again, in the fourth, I played a very bad game at 2-1. Overall my level of play is not good at all. “He played a perfect game.”.
Pictures: by Andy Cheung/Getty Images
Source: Tycsports
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
