Novak Djokovic admits Italian Open defeat ‘is a bit concerning’
Novak Djokovic has failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Italian Open for the first time since 2006, after being beaten in straight sets by Alejandro Tabilo.
Djokovic was defeated by the 29th seed in Rome, 2-6 3-6, in a third round match that lasted only an hour and 10 minutes.
This was the first match that Djokovic had played since being hit in the head by a water bottle, after his opening win in the Italian capital on Friday.
The Serbian was asked about whether he thought this played a part in his defeat to Tabilo, with Djokovic being unable to create a single break point opportunity.
“I don’t know, to be honest. I have to check that.” answered Djokovic. “Training was different. I was going for kind of easy training yesterday. I didn’t feel anything, but I also didn’t feel the same.”
The world No.1 continued, “Today under high stress, it was quite bad – not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago. It could be. I don’t know. I have to do medical checkups and see what’s going on.“
"I'm trying to wake up right now" ????
Tabilo on his epic win over Djokovic#IBI24 pic.twitter.com/kck5eDVkjk
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 12, 2024
Djokovic has failed to reach a single final in any of his four tournaments this year, and the 36-year-old has admitted that he has some concerns ahead of Roland Garros.
“Everything needs to be better in order for me to have at least a chance to win it,” admitted the 24-time major winner. “The way I felt on the court today was just completely like a different player entered into my shoes. Just no rhythm, no tempo, and no balance whatsoever on any shot. It’s a bit concerning.”
Djokovic will be the top seed and defending champion for Roland Garros, that begins in two weeks time on Sunday 26th May.
Inside the baseline…
It was an incredibly disappointing and surprising performance from Novak Djokovic, with his afternoon being summed up by the double fault on match point. Although it has been a poor start to the season by Djokovic’s standards, the Serbian will still be one of the big favourites for Roland Garros and will need to live up to that if he wants to keep his No.1 ranking away from Jannik Sinner.
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