Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts during a press conference ahead of the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Patrick Mouratoglou has made some interesting comments about Novak Djokovic’s state of mind during and after his defeat to Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic appeared to be headed for a record-extending 11th title at Melbourne Park after being relatively untroubled en route to the semi-final.
However, he was stunned by Sinner in the last four on Friday as the Italian claimed a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (8-6), 6-3 victory to book his place in the final against Daniil Medvedev.
What made the Djokovic defeat even more surprising was the fact that it was his first loss at Melbourne Park since 2018.
In an Instagram video, Mouratoglou asserted that the tennis great “wasn’t there” during his match.
“I would not be surprised if Novak felt relieved after that tournament as he didn’t realise how heavy that was on his shoulders,” he said in an Instagram video.
“It was very shocking to see Novak in a semi-final of a Grand Slam so unable to play. Djokovic played a match that was one of the worst I have seen from him. He wasn’t there. He was definitely not that court, on that day.”
He went on to explain how the Davis Cup defeat to Sinner was painful as the Serbian values the tournament highly before getting to the crux as he stated Djokovic will be relieved after the defeat.
According to Mouratoglou, the pressure of being unbeaten at Melbourne Park simply became too much.
“When Djokovic played against Mannarino he was up 6-0, 6-0, 1-0. He played a bad game, and he lost the game and what struck me was what he said after the match,” he said.
Novak Djokovic said during his press conference that he felt it was “almost a good thing to give away a game just to be able to reset and refocus”.
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The Frenchman continued: “Think about it, he didn’t lose one match at the Australian Open since 2018, he had never lost a semi-final at the Australian Open, he won 10 titles here. Can he continue on that trend?
“No, it’s too much. It’s too much pressure and I have seen that even in champions. When it is too much pressure sometimes they need to fail and in a way they feel relieved.
“Not now [for Djokovic] as he is probably too disappointed, but after a few days [he will say] ‘wow that was so heavy [and] I can come back to the normal pressure, the pressure I am used to, which is the pressure of being No 1 and the greatest player of all time.
“But this was, I feel, too much for him.
“I still think Novak is going to win two to three more Grand Slams this year.”
