Andrea Petkovic has said she was concerned by Novak Djokovic's uncharacteristically bad performance against Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semifinal.
There was much anticipation before Djokovic and Sinner's meeting at the Australian Open. However, the match turned out to be more one-sided than expected, with Sinner triumphing relatively comfortably.
Both players are in the Indian Wells Open ATP draw. The Serbian will be hoping to put that disappointment behind him, although the Indian Wells director says an early Djokovic loss would not be a failure.
Sinner's rise has been incredible, but he had been threatening to have a big breakthrough for a while before this, as even Carlos Alcaraz's coach said Sinner's rise is a great example of professionalism.
Former world No. 9 and current commentator and analyst Andrea Petkovic recently told the Tennis Channel's Inside-In podcast that she was worried when she watched Djokovic against Sinner.
"The one thing I was worried about was seeing Novak Djokovic, that was a first bad match at a Major tournament we have seen from him in a long long time."
Petkovic's reaction is understandable. In fact, the crowd at the Rod Laver Arena that night was visibly stunned by how Djokovic was playing. He received much crowd support during the match, but he could not use that momentum positively.
Despite this, Djokovic is one of the best athletes ever at recovering from setbacks. An example of this was when there was much talk about a passing of the torch after Carlos Alcaraz beat Djokovic in the Wimbledon final, but the Serbian responded by winning the US Open.
It will be fascinating to watch Djokovic at the Indian Wells Open. It has been over a month since his last match. This means a hangover from the defeat to Sinner should not be an issue, but it remains to be confirmed.