Novak Djokovic lost in the third round of the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters but he refused to blame it on an injury.
It was the first tournament for the 22-time Grand Slam champion in a while as he was unable to compete at the Sunshine Double. But Djokovic didn't have a lot of success at the first ATP 1000 clay-court tournament of the season in the past, and that didn't change this year as he lost to Lorenzo Musetti in three sets.
After the match, one of the reporters wanted to ask the Serb about his injury, as he was wearing a sleeve on his elbow during practice in Monte Carlo as well as in his third-round match against Musetti. As soon as the reporter started asking the question, Djokovic refused to blame the loss on an injury, saying:
"I cannot say nothing (about it). I’m okay. I’m fine. Congrats to him. We move on."
Although the loss means that Djokovic won't be able to take advantage of the golden opportunity that he was presented with after the withdrawals of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, the Serb still knows the peak of the clay-court season is yet to come and he won't be thinking about the loss for too long.
“I don't think it's catastrophic, but my feeling is bad right now because I lost the match. That's all. Congrats to my opponent. I move on. Well, [my] feeling is terrible after playing like this, honestly. But congrats to him. He stayed tough in important moments, and that's it. That's all I can say. Good luck to him.”
The Serb then explained that as an athlete, everyone hopes to have 'a good day in the office', but this time, he was not feeling well and also knew about the qualities of his opponent.
“You always hope for the good day in the office. But yeah, I know I'm not playing so great and he's playing very well, so I knew it was going to be a tough match. “
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