Novak Djokovic admits that he is ‘not at the level’ of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner
Novak Djokovic has reflected on his second consecutive Wimbledon final loss to Carlos Alcaraz, admitting that the Spaniard ‘deserved to win’.
Djokovic was beaten by Alcaraz, 2-6 2-6 6(4)-7, in only the Serbian’s fourth straight sets defeat in a Grand Slam final.
Despite the disappointment of defeat, Djokovic seemed content that he was beaten by the better player, “He was a better player. He played every single shot better than I did. I lost in an epic five-set match that we went toe-to-toe. This year it was nothing like that. It was all about him. He was the dominant force on the court and deserved to win.”
It has been just over a month since Djokovic underwent surgery on a meniscus tear in his right knee, with the 37-year-old now outlining his main goals for the rest of the year, while admitting that he is not currently at the level of both Alcaraz and World No.1 Jannik Sinner.
“The Olympic Games and US Open are the two big goals for the rest of the year for me really,” claimed Djokovic. “I’m hoping I can be at my best in those two tournaments, yeah. That’s all I can say right now.
“I mean, being able to reach the finals of Wimbledon, of course, it’s a great confidence boost. But I also feel like in a match-up today against [the] best player right now in the world for sure, I mean, other than Jannik, and both of them are the best this year by far, I feel like I’m not at that level.”
The World No.2 added, “In order to really have a chance to I guess beat these guys in Grand Slam latter stages or 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. It’s not something I haven’t experienced before ever in my life. I’ve had so many different experiences throughout my career. In the face of adversity, normally I rise and I learn and get stronger. That’s what I’m going to do.”
Every time I walk on to Centre Court, I am filled with such gratitude that I am living out my childhood dream. Thank you to my entire team, partners, family, friends and #nolefam for all of your support throughout the last few weeks. Onwards.
Felicidades, @carlosalcaraz. Well… pic.twitter.com/3Q44pHnK96
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) July 14, 2024
Djokovic will now look to recover for his fifth Olympic Games in Paris, with the tennis beginning on 27th July, where he will be bidding for that elusive gold medal.
Inside the baseline…
It was quite a lacklustre performance by Novak Djokovic’s standards, who really struggled at the net yesterday winning only 50% of his points when making approaches. The 24-time major winner only seemed to get into the match in the third set and by that point it was too late really. However, that all being said it is still an incredible achievement to reach another Wimbledon final after undergoing knee surgery and it is only likely to get better when Djokovic heads to Paris for the Olympics, where he is desperate to win one of the only things that has eluded his decorated career.
READ MORE: Carlos Alcaraz wants to end his career ‘at the same table as the big guys’
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