Novak Djokovic made a mistake during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but Serbian Team Captain Viktor Troicki says he has learned from it.
The Serbian was the top favorite to secure the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics as he was playing sensational tennis that year, and nobody in the draw looked like he could challenge him.
Djokovic cruised through the draw comfortably until he ran into Alexander Zverev in the semi-final. He completely outplayed him in the first set, winning it 6-1, but then also lost in three sets.
It's one of the most bizarre matches Djokovic has ever played because it looked like somebody deflated the Serbian after the first set. He lost energy in the next two sets, which was confirmed by Djokovic himself.
Serbia's tennis Team Captain at this year's Olympics in Paris, Troicki, spoke with Clay about Djokovic's Tokyo experience because he was there and saw it happen.
He noted that Djokovic simply lost energy because he was playing mixed doubles, which was, in his opinion, totally unnecessary. The only reason Djokovic was there was to win the singles gold medal, which he never did, but patriotism pushed him to play mixed doubles as well.
Everybody told him not to do that, but he was a bit stubborn and believed that it was the right thing to do. In the end, however, it proved to be a costly mistake, which he has since learned from.
"He made a mistake playing mixed doubles. I think he also lost energy playing mixed doubles for no reason. It was extremely hot there and here he’s only focused on the singles title and he’s doing everything to accomplish it."
"That’s one of the many mistakes he learned from. He’s like this. He’s stubborn sometimes. Even if everyone tells him you shouldn’t play, if he thinks he should play, he will do it. And will try to prove everyone wrong. And he was close. He was close."
Interestingly enough, Djokovic's father made similar comments a few years ago when Djokovic missed out on the iconic Calendar Slam. That was the year of the Olympics, and his father admitted that Djokovic going to Tokyo likely cost him the US Open because, by the time that event rolled around, the Serbian legend was on low energy levels.
He made the final that year by playing some amazing tennis but failed to play well in the final match. Daniil Medvedev easily overpowered him in a match, in which Djokovic looked uncharacteristically flat.
None of that is a concern this year as the 37-year-old hasn't played too many matches this year, on top of just focusing entirely on the singles. So far, his performances have shown that to be the right approach, as he has been strong against some tricky opponents.
The way he was able to dominate against Rafael Nadal, beating him in two sets was amazing, and he certainly followed it up in the match after. So far, he's looked on par with Carlos Alcaraz, who will likely challenge him for the gold medal.
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