Novak Djokovic didn’t play at his best in his first match since the Australian Open, and he was quite vocal about it after the match.
Djokovic recently played his first match after the Australian Open in Indian Wells. Coincidentally, it was also his first match at that event in 5 years, as a combination of events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, kept him away from the ATP Masters 1000 event for a long time
As expected, it wasn’t the smoothest performance. Djokovic struggled to consistently remain on a high level, allowing himself to get outplayed in the second set.
He would rally to win the match in three but also admitted after the match that he was a bit worried for a while. He was also very self-critical after the math, underlining that he could play much better than he actually did.
“I know I can always produce better tennis. Obviously very self-critical, and I think some extent it’s also important because then it puts you in the right mindset of wanting to work more and being engaged in the process of improving on a daily basis, or trying to perfect your game and right the wrongs that you’ve done in a previous match or previous practice session.”
He could have assumed that things wouldn’t be quite smooth after he lost to Daniil Medvedev in a practice set they played ahead of the event. Still, expect Djokovic to put in the work to get to his best tennis, which should show up in the coming rounds.
“So that’s what I’m going to keep doing and hopefully building my game as this tournament is played over 10 to 14 days, so it allows you to have the practice days also between matches, which then, you know, of course allows you to work on certain specifics in the game.”
“I think as the tournament progresses, I believe my game will get better as well, I will feel more confident about myself and my chances to go far in the tournament. I have to take it step by step.”
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