After a Loss, Novak Djokovic Fights Back

In Serbian and in English, the 24-time major champ disputed and disagreed with press premises at Wimbledon.

WIMBLEDON, England — It wasn’t a particularly tense day of men’s semifinal action on Friday at Wimbledon—at least not on the court.

Jannik Sinner, in control. (Photo by Mark Peterson / Corleve)

Both favorites won easily. In the more intriguing second semifinal, top-ranked Jannik Sinner rolled 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 past seven-time champion Novak Djokovic without much tension or suspense.

Novak Djokovic, lowered. (Photo by Mark Peterson / Corleve)

That tension came later. In his post-match press conference, Djokovic—nearly three years removed from his 24th and most recent major title—was in an intriguingly combative mood, while also willing to be reflective about how reasonable his own dissatisfaction can be at age 39.

I will include a few highlights of the English bits here, but the real meat of this—as Bounces readers will know has become tradition here—is the full, professionally-translated transcript of the Serbian portion of Djokovic’s press conference, which I think might be the most interesting one yet in the six times I’ve done this here.

“It has honestly started to annoy me a little, because it is already difficult enough that I am not satisfied with myself, and then other people place that additional burden on me—as though the pressure I already put on myself were not enough.” —Novak Djokovic in Serbian

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