LONDON: There was a combination of factors working against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final on Sunday. Carlos Alcaraz was red hot, and it was just five weeks since the 37-year-old’s right knee went under the scalpel in a Paris hospital, the Serbian didn’t have the luxury of time in his preparation.
That said, the seven-time champion didn’t bring his best tennis of the fortnight to the title match.The last time Djokovic came out as flat as he did on Sunday in the latter stages of a major was in Melbourne Park in January, in the Australian Open semifinals against the 22-year-old Jannik Sinner. The Italian had won three of their last four meetings.
“Overall, I was inferior on the court. He was the better player,” the 24-time major winner said. “He played every single shot better than I did. He outplayed me.”
Djokovic, who uses the lessons he has learnt on a match court better than anyone in the sport, will turn his attention to the Olympic Games that start in two weeks.
“Hopefully I have a chance to fight for a medal for my country,” Djokovic said of Paris 2024. “On a completely different surface (clay), going back to the place where I got injured some weeks ago.
Let’s see how I’m going to feel, physically and mentally. Hopefully I can find the right tennis because I’m going to need all I have and more to go to the final of the Olympic Games.”
Djokovic, who made his first final of the year at SW19, is on the hunt for his best form in the second half of the summer stretch.
“The Olympic Games and the US Open are the two big goals for the rest of the year for me,” he said. “Being able to reach the final of Wimbledon is a great confidence boost. But I also feel like in a matchup like today, against the best players in the world Carlos and Jannik (Sinner), I’m not at that level.”
“In order to have a chance to beat these guys in a Grand Slam and in the later stages of the Olympics, I’m going to have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today. I’m going to work on it,” he said.
The 37-year-old then produced the kind of defiance that was missing in his play earlier in the day.
“In the face of adversity,’ he said, ‘I rise, I learn, I get stronger.”
That said, the seven-time champion didn’t bring his best tennis of the fortnight to the title match.The last time Djokovic came out as flat as he did on Sunday in the latter stages of a major was in Melbourne Park in January, in the Australian Open semifinals against the 22-year-old Jannik Sinner. The Italian had won three of their last four meetings.
“Overall, I was inferior on the court. He was the better player,” the 24-time major winner said. “He played every single shot better than I did. He outplayed me.”
Djokovic, who uses the lessons he has learnt on a match court better than anyone in the sport, will turn his attention to the Olympic Games that start in two weeks.
“Hopefully I have a chance to fight for a medal for my country,” Djokovic said of Paris 2024. “On a completely different surface (clay), going back to the place where I got injured some weeks ago.
Let’s see how I’m going to feel, physically and mentally. Hopefully I can find the right tennis because I’m going to need all I have and more to go to the final of the Olympic Games.”
Djokovic, who made his first final of the year at SW19, is on the hunt for his best form in the second half of the summer stretch.
“The Olympic Games and the US Open are the two big goals for the rest of the year for me,” he said. “Being able to reach the final of Wimbledon is a great confidence boost. But I also feel like in a matchup like today, against the best players in the world Carlos and Jannik (Sinner), I’m not at that level.”
“In order to have a chance to beat these guys in a Grand Slam and in the later stages of the Olympics, I’m going to have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today. I’m going to work on it,” he said.
The 37-year-old then produced the kind of defiance that was missing in his play earlier in the day.
“In the face of adversity,’ he said, ‘I rise, I learn, I get stronger.”
