Novak Djokovic's Bleak Point
After an agonizing loss, the 24-time major champion was again blunt in Serbian about his uncertainties about playing onward.
MELBOURNE, Australia — After Novak Djokovic booked an improbable spot in his 11th Australian Open final with his semifinal win over Jannik Sinner on Friday night, he spoke forcefully of proving skeptics wrong, and of his own unshakable self-belief.
“I never stopped believing in myself, you know,” Djokovic said. “There’s a lot of people that doubt me. I see there is a lot of experts all of a sudden that wanted to retire me or have retired me many times the last couple of years. I want to thank them all, because they gave me strength. They gave me motivation to prove them wrong, which I have tonight. For me, it’s not a surprise, to be honest. I know what I’m capable of.”
But there was a big gap, it would become clear, between what Djokovic sounded like after his best win in more than a year and how he sounded after a painful defeat to Carlos Alcaraz two days later. As he held his runner-up plate, the 38-year-old seemed to be preparing the crowd for the possibility that this could be the last they’d see of him.
“I must be very honest and say that I didn’t think that I would be standing in the closing ceremony of a Grand Slam once again,” Djokovic said on Sunday night in Rod Laver Arena. “So I think I owe you [the crowd] the gratitude as well, for pushing me forward throughout the last couple of weeks. And God knows what happens tomorrow—let alone in six months or 12 months. So, it has been a great ride. I love you guys.”
This whiplash in how Djokovic talks about his career from one day to the next has become a common feeling for those who have tracked the 24-time major champion over his recent years. His confidence has such high and low tides that it can be hard to know how much longer he can stay afloat.
So to get a better, fuller read on Djokovic’s direction and buoyancy, I am happy to share the latest in what’s become a popular series at Bounces over the last year: translations of Djokovic’s Serbian press conferences following his defeats at majors (as I did here at the French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open).
“I think I’ll come back. But whether you’ll see me here as an active player, we’ll see.” —Novak Djokovic on Sunday at the Australian Open (in Serbian)
On Sunday night in Melbourne, the Serbian press had a mix of tough questions and glazing for Djokovic that produced some interesting results and some stark comments about his future.
And when it was all done, Djokovic had his own message he wanted to deliver to Serbia in its time of turmoil.
To read the English translation of Djokovic’s Serbian remarks on Sunday after his Australian Open final defeat, please subscribe to Bounces! -Ben
