A Serbian reporter, who is considered also as a friend of Novak Djokovic, claimed that the World No.1 was ill going into his semi-final clash against Jannik Sinner at the 2024 Australian Open. However, his coach Goran Ivanisevic has come forward to quash the rumours. This gave Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer fans ammunition to troll the Serb.
Djokovic, a record 10-time champion in Melbourne, was the favorite to win an 11th Australian Open title this year. He proceeded to the semi-final as expected. However, eventual champion Sinner proved too much to handle, ending the World No.1’s title defence. A few days later, reports on X (formerly Twitter) emerged suggesting Djokovic was sick, which is why he played poorly.
These speculations were not received positively by many, who accused the 24-time Grand Slam champion of making excuses. In an interview with Serbian outlet SportKlub, Djokovic’s coach Ivanisevic cleared the air, saying his pupil was healthy. He said it was just a regular loss, like it could happen to any player. However, he was glad the defeat came against an elite player like Sinner.
“No, nothing bothered him, he was healthy, but it just didn’t work out… It can happen to him too, he’s flesh and blood. On the other hand, if he should have lost to someone, then I’m glad it was against Sinner.”.
Ivanisevic said Novak Djokovic could not always win and a loss was natural. He stated a player always needs to be ‘100%’ when facing Jannik Sinner and could fall to a defeat despite giving his best against the Italian. The player-turned-coach claimed Djokovic could never reach his best form throughout the 2024 Australian Open.
“Sooner or later he had to lose, we were all aware of that. It’s just a shame that it happened this way, but against Sinner, if you’re not 100%, you have nothing to ask for. And even when you’re at 100%, you can still lose. However, the whole Australian Open was somehow not right for Novak, from the first round onwards. Well, let’s move on, it’s nothing that tragic.”
Fans on X mock Novak Djokovic and his followers
Even as the Big 3 of tennis carry on with their lives and careers, their fans never miss an opportunity to sling mud at each other. Now, Goran Ivanisevic’s revelation that Novak Djokovic was healthy during his 2024 Australian Open semi-final made many Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal fans troll him. They quoted the previous reports of him being unwell, calling it a fake excuse and labelling the Serb dishonest.
Many trolled Djokovic’s fans who claimed he was sick.
Jannik Sinner went on to lift the 2024 Australian Open title, his first Grand Slam, after defeating Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. He will now feature in the ABN Amro Open, aka the Rotterdam Open. The latter, meanwhile, will return to the court at the Indian Wells Masters.
