Australian Open: 'I'm shocked at my level' - Novak Djokovic reacts to 'one of worst Grand Slam matches' in his career

ByOli Gent

Updated 26/01/2024 at 09:16 GMT

Novak Djokovic has said that he was “shocked with his level” during his Australian Open semi-final defeat to Jannik Sinner, calling the loss “one of the worst Grand Slam matches I've ever played”. The world No. 1 fell to the Italian fourth seed in four sets on Rod Laver Arena, 6-1 6-2 6-7(6) 6-3. The Serbian hit 54 unforced errors in an uncharacteristically error-strewn performance.

Novak Djokovic has said that he was “shocked with his level” during , calling the loss “one of the worst Grand Slam matches I've ever played”.

The world No. 1 arrived at Melbourne Park as a record 10-time champion, and he was looking to defend his 2023 crown that he won after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final on Rod Laver Arena.

But his title defence was abruptly stunted by a superb Sinner, who closed out the match in four sets - 6-1 6-2 6-7(6) 6-3 - after initially dropping a match point in the third set tie-break.

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An error-strewn Djokovic hit 54 unforced errors, and he did not have a single break point throughout the encounter.

The Serbian cut a frustrated figure at times during the match, and in his post-match press conference, he was highly critical of his own performance.

“I was shocked with my level in a bad way,” the world No. 1 said.

“There was not much I was doing right in the first two sets. This is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I've ever played; at least that I remember. [It’s] not a very pleasant feeling playing this way.

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“Credit to him for doing everything better than me in every aspect of the game. I tried, I fought. I managed to raise the level a little bit in the third, saved a match point, and played a good tie-break.

“But [in] the fourth set, [it was a] very bad game to lose, 40-0 up on 1-2, against the wind a little bit. The performance-wise level of my tennis was really not great.”

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Djokovic had dropped three sets en route to the last four at Melbourne Park, but his dominance had shown in all the matches he had played before his encounter with Sinner.

The Italian raced into a two-set lead, and the top seed’s third-set revival would prove only temporary.

“The whole tournament I haven't really played close to my best,” Djokovic admitted.

“Maybe against [Adrian] Mannarino I was great, but most of the matches I was not playing up to par [compared to] the way I play here in Australia normally.

“It did surprise me, because I thought it wouldn't be that bad in the first two sets. But on the other hand, I didn't feel really myself on the court during this tournament.

“One can say the semi-finals is a great result, of course, but I always expect the highest of myself, and it wasn't meant to be today.

“There's a lot of negative things that I've done on the court today in terms of my game that I'm not really pleased with; return, movement, forehand, backhand. Everything was just sub par.”

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Despite the disappointment, Djokovic was quick to quash speculation that he was starting to feel his 36 years of age.

“I still have high hopes for other Slams [and the] Olympics, and whatever tournaments that I'll play.

“It's not the feeling that I'm used to. It has been incredibly satisfying for me, you know, to start off most of my seasons with a Grand Slam win and never lose in the semi-finals or the final of the Australian Open.

“This time it's a bit different, but it is what it is. This tournament hasn't been up to my standard that I would normally play or expect myself to play, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's the beginning of the end, as some people like to call it.

“Let's see what happens in the rest of the season.”

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