- Novak Djokovic complained that he was not feeling well at the Australian Open
- The 36-year-old Djokovic said after the match that his tennis level was ‘not great’
- The Serbian has won ten Grand Slam titles in Melbourne since 2008
A report from Serbia claims fever was the catalyst for Novak Djokovic’s shock semi-final loss at the Australian Open.
Quotes attributed to journalist Luka Nikolić on social media Suppose the 24-time Grand Slam winner had a fever the night before he lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner.
Djokovic looked like a different player at Rod Laver Arena on Australia Day, easily losing the first two sets before forcing Sinner to a fourth.
“Novak came down with a fever the night before the semi-final,” Nikolic – who is employed by Meridian Sport Global and has previously worked for sports outlet B92 – reportedly said this week.
“(It was) something similar to what (Alexander) Zverev had.
A report from Serbia claims fever was the reason for Novak Djokovic’s shocking semi-final loss at the Australian Open
The 24-time Grand Slam winner contracted the fever the night before losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner
‘He was ill for three weeks and then he had a relapse. That’s why he played so bad in the first two sets, you could tell he was so weak and couldn’t do it.
‘He couldn’t play well under these conditions. He didn’t want to go to the doctor so that the journalists wouldn’t bother him and make a fuss.’
Following Nikolić’s comments, Djokovic’s many fans felt that the result would have been different if the 36-year-old had been in top condition.
“Everyone watching this game knew something was very wrong. This makes perfect sense,” one supporter tweeted in response.
“Many of us knew from the first ball of that match that Novak was not right. We all know he will be back and better than ever,” wrote another.
A third said: ‘That seems right to me. He looked flat all game. He didn’t even shout at his box, which he does even when he wins comfortably.’
Djokovic’s many fans did not recognize the brilliance of Sinner, who did not offer a single break point opportunity to the world number 1 in four sets.
According to the report, ‘Joker’ had an illness similar to that of Alexander Zverev (pictured shows both players leaving Melbourne after the Open)
Some tennis fans reacted to the news by claiming that Djokovic would never have lost to Sinner had he been in better health
Sinner was a worthy winner regardless of Djokovic’s health situation. He didn’t give the Serbian any chance to break his serve over four sets
After the match, Djokovic himself praised Sinner, before stating that his on-court performance was ‘below par’.
‘I was shocked at my level, in a bad way. I didn’t do much well in the first two sets. “I think this is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I’ve ever played, at least as far as I can remember,” he said.
‘It’s not a very pleasant feeling. But at the same time all credit goes to Jannik because he did everything better than me.
‘I tried, I fought. Overall, the level of my tennis really wasn’t great.’