Novak Djokovic: I Wasn’t Close To My Best Over The Summer, But It Was An Emotional Period
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Novak Djokovic re-iterated his disappointment at his summer performance. The Serb who was married just a few days after his Wimbledon triumph, fell apart in third round losses at both Toronto and Cincinnati. But he says leading up to the US Open where he won a few years ago and has reached the finals the last four, he’s feeling better.
“I’m feeling better and better as the days go by,” Djokovic said on Saturday. “Yes, I wanted to do better in Canada and Cincinnati. Unfortunately I wasn’t even close to my best. But, you know, a lot of things happened in the last two months, and it was very emotional period. You know, I just felt a little bit flat on the court. I wasn’t managing to find that intensity and the perfect mindset. But, you know, it’s all normal. It’s something that I’m experiencing for the first time, right?”
Speaking of emotions, Djokovic and wife Jelena Ristic are expecting their first child in the coming months, an event even the World No. 1 is unsure of how he’ll handle. But once the baby comes, tennis won’t be his primary focus anymore.
“I’m going to see how that feels,” Djokovic said of the baby. “Obviously I talk with people who are around me who have children. As I said before, my coach and people who have been in similar situations like I am and how they dealt with that, how that has affected their careers, their mindset, their, you know, just overall life. I with no doubt have only positive and joyful feelings approaching fatherhood, and hopefully — it’s going to happen in less than two months. Then I’m going to enjoy it and try to take as much energy as I can, positive energy to transfer that to the tennis court.
“But without a doubt, life changes. You know, priorities change. My priorities, you know, my family, my wife, my future kid. You know, tennis is not definitely not No. 1 anymore.”
Djokovic opens up play Monday night against Diego Schwartzman.
“Obviously it’s never easy when you play against somebody you have never played against. He’s a young player from Argentina, and, sure playing on the center court for him is a great experience. He has nothing to lose. So my team is going to do scouting as much as possible and analyze his game and try to prepare myself.”
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