“It was one of my worst matches,” Djokovic admitted after losing in Australia after 6 years

The Serbian Novak Djokovicnumber one in the world, acknowledged this Friday that he played one of “the worst” Games of grand slam after losing against the Italian Jannik Sinner (4) and be eliminated from the Australian Opensomething that had not happened since the edition 2018.

“I was surprised by my poor level. Without a doubt I played one of the worst Grand Slam matches, at least that I remember. It’s not a very pleasant feeling to have played this way, but I give all the credit to (Jannik) Sinner because he did everything “Better than me in all aspects of the game.”he admitted Djokovic at the post-match press conference.

The Italian, fourth favorite in the tournament, won by 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in one of the semifinals of the men’s team.

Djokovicten-time champion of the first “major” of the tennis season, confessed that at no time during the current edition did he feel “near” of its best level: “In most of the matches I didn’t play up to the standard or the way I normally play here in Australia.”

“My level today surprised me because I thought it wouldn’t be as bad as the first two sets. I didn’t really feel like myself on court during this tournament. “You can say that the semifinals are a great result, but I always expect the best from myself and not this today,” added the world number 1.

The Serbian had not lost in Melbourne since the round of 16 in 2018 before the korean Heyon Chung since he later won the title in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023 and was absent in 2022 due to their conflict with the Australian authorities, by not complying with the regulations of the Covid-19.

Asked about that streak, which reached 33 wins in a rowassumed: “I had to finish one day. At least I did everything I could in circumstances in which I was not playing well. I lost against a player who has a good chance of winning his first Grand Slam. This city is very special to me, it is the Grand Slam in which I have had the most success. “I just hope he gets the chance to come back, at least one more time.”

When reviewing your match, Djokovic understood that not having provided any chance of bankruptcy before Sinner “says a lot of things”. “The first thing is that he served with great precision. Me, it’s hard to say… “There were many negative things in my game today: the backhand, the movement, the forehand, the rest… Everything was insufficient.”he detailed with self-criticism.

Despite the disappointment of the defeat, the world number one was cautious when analyzing whether today’s result means the advent of a generational change on the circuit: “We will see, I don’t know. I maintain high ambitions for the other Grand Slams, for the Olympic Games and the rest of the tournaments in which I will participate.

“It’s just the beginning of the season and it’s not the feeling I’ve usually had. It was satisfying to start most of my seasons with a Grand Slam title and to have never lost in the semi-finals and final of the Australian Open This time it’s different. I haven’t played a tournament up to my standards, the level I usually play at or the level I expect to play at. But this doesn’t mean it’s the beginning of the end. We’ll see what happens in the rest of the tournaments. the season,” he concluded.