Novak Djokovic suffered the first-ever semi-final defeat of his career at the Australian Open recently. The 10-time champion in Melbourne, was comprehensively beaten by young Jannik Sinner at the Rod Laver Arena. However, according to recent reports from Serbia, Djokovic was unwell coming into the semi-final.
According to a Serbian journalist and former player Luka Nikolic, Novak Djokovic was unwell on the eve of the semi-final against Jannik Sinner. The defending champion lost the match 6-1 6-2 6-7 6-3 and failed to come up with his best game. The Serbian looked a bit lost during the opening two sets and ended up losing the match in four sets.
However, according to Luka Nikolic, Djokovic was not at his best because he was feeling unwell. According to report, the Serbian star was sick for three weeks and could not cope with the conditions during the semi-final. Nikolic further added that Djokovic was weak due to his illness and could not perform well in the first two sets.
“Novak got a fever the night before the semi-final. He was sick for three weeks and then he had a relapse. That’s why he played so badly in the first two sets, you could see he was so weak and couldn’t do it. He couldn’t play well in those conditions. He didn’t want to go to the doctor so the journalists wouldn’t bother him and make a fuss.”
While Novak Djokovic could not cope with Jannik Sinner, these reports of an illness might perhaps be taking all the credit away from the Italian. Sinner had already beaten Djokovic in two of their last three meetings and went into the game confident of beating the World No.1 again. Tennis fans on X trolled Novak Djokovic fans for allegedly coming up with excuses after a defeat.
Tennis community troll Novak Djokovic fans for making excuses after Australian Open defeat
Novak Djokovic fans, widely known as NoleFam, came up with Djokovic’s illness as an excuse for his poor performance in the semi-final match of the Australian Open. But many fans also believe that these illness quotes from Serbia are just a way to divert attention from Djokovic’s loss. While others believe that Djokovic should not play the ‘sick card’ or the ‘victim card’ and disrespect his opponent. although publicly, the World No.1 himself has not said a word wrong about Jannik Sinner and in fact, has a good bond with him.
Interestingly, Novak Djokovic himself commented on Jannik Sinner’s coaching team in December 2023 comprising of Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi won the ATP Coach of the Year 2023 Award jointly. While Djokovic congratulated Sinner, he believed at the same time that the ATP is biased to not even consider his coach, the legendary Goran Ivanisevic worthy for the award despite having a historic 2023 season. Here are some fan reactions regarding the latest Djokovic update –
