Novak Djokovic was greatly disappointed with his Indian Wells performance against Luca Nardi, but he refused to find excuses for it.
2024 hasn't been the best year for Djokovic so far, as he endured some rather disappointing losses. He lost to Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open, which was a huge letdown but not a major surprise. The writing is on the wall for that one.
The most recent loss to Nardi at the Indian Wells Open was a huge surprise, on the other hand, as nobody really saw it coming. Djokovic didn't play all that well, and he admitted it after the match.
He certainly wasn't in the mood to find excuses for his bad play. He actually broke down exactly what went wrong for him in the match.
"I helped him play well, and I didn't help myself at all. I made some really terrible unforced errors. Just quite defensive tennis, and, you know, not much on the ball in the third, and that's it. You know, he just stepped in and he used the time that he had."
The courts in Indian Wells play rather uniquely, possibly not to Djokovic's liking. This gives his opponents plenty of time to unleash, which the young Italian player used to his advantage.
"He was playing more free and more aggressive than I did, and going for his shots and that break on 3-2 in the third was enough. Just a bit of windy conditions today."
It was his first time back in five years, so some struggles were expected. Still, the 36-year-old refused to find excuses.
"Completely contrary to what I was having in my training sessions these days, and the first match, but still, it's not an excuse. I should have done much better. But again, credit to him for pulling it off."
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