Breaking: Djokovic developed illness the night before Sinner clash

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Sinner also played well, and Djokovic made it all the way to the semis and almost made a comeback in set 3 and 4. Would’ve been epic if Djokovic had gone all the way and won the tournament saving a match point from Sinner but it is what it is.

Also I don’t see any advantage to pretend to be injured or sick. If you are a strong player and focused on the game, you will beat your opponent on court and not get distracted.
nope-dj-hunts.gif
 

mahatma

Hall of Fame
Hahaha. Definitely was sick. No other explanations.

Healthy big 3 are undefeated. Divided by victories, united by losses. #big3fanbase
 

canta_Brian

Hall of Fame
must be the same illness Alcaraz had before/in his match against Zverev

thought Alcaraz also looked uncharacteristically slow and weak in that one

think Djoko would have lost anyway at full strength, but it would have been more of a contest
Alcaraz then passed it on to Zverev, who infected Medvedev?

Didn’t Djokovic win once whilst having a three cm stomach muscle tear, only one leg and his racquet arm in a cast?
 

Pandora Mikado

Semi-Pro
I have no problem believing he was under the weather. That plus being out in the sun probably made him feel like crap, which is why his footwork was so uncharacteristically bad.

But the "first two sets" comment is laughable. When you're sick you don't start feeling better and more settled after running around and sweating for a couple hours. You feel even worse.
the opposite. If I’m sick or just getting over some flu or cold, I will start slow. It needs a while to find my legs and start using my full body. Not saying it’s not an excuse but if he was unwell, I can see why he might find his range after a set or two.
 

Enceladus

Legend
Whether Nole was sick or not, I don't know, I take the information from one tweet with a grain of salt. The fact is that he looked clueless in the first two sets against Sinner. He then improved and took the third set with his ears scraped for himself, but in the fourth set the momentum slipped through his fingers and Sinner was back on the horse. Nole was obviously not in his skin, we are not used to such a lethargic performance at his best tournament. His performances in the first two matches indicated that he is not in optimal game form this time around. Losing a set in first week' matches isn't unusual for Djoker, but the circumstances were special, he was losing by a break in the 3rd set against Prizmic and nearly fell to deficit a 1-2 to the sets against Popyrin.
 
D

Deleted member 806402

Guest
He forgot to install a geiger counter on his taopatch ;)
@Jonesy
 
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Steffi Graf played the '89 RG final with terrible menstrual cramps. She led by a break in the final set but lost the match to Sanchez-Vicario.
Madame didn't look pleased in the ceremony but she was professional.
The story did get around but it was never used as an excuse.
The fact is players contest big matches with all kinds of ailments and setbacks. Sometimes they win and sometimes they lose and the world keeps turning.
 

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
Federer never made excuses for defeats, he would look sour maybe but never make excuses. He even scolded Mary Carillo when she said that Roger tanked the cinci match vs Murray in 2006, even though Federer did do that but he did not say that in public, he took offense at the fact that someone decided to call him out for that....
Fed has made excuses for defeats many times.

For example, Fed claimed 8 years after losing to Rafa at the 2004 Miami Masters that he lost due to a sunstroke from Indian Wells.
TennisNow, 23 March 2012:
¤¤ Since the tour is in Miami this week and next, we figured, what better time to look at a very historical moment that occurred in Miami, some eight years ago. /---/
Federer spoke a bit about the historical affair yesterday during a press conference in Miami. /---/ (The score was 6-3, 6-3 in favor of Nadal.)
I came with a sunstroke from Indian Wells, fine,” said Federer of his first close encounter with a player of the Rafa kind, “but I was starting to feel better and I was like didn't quite understand what just quite happened.” ¤¤
 

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
Whether Nole was sick or not, I don't know, I take the information from one tweet with a grain of salt. ...
Many newspapers have reported this, but they have cited the same source.
 

RF-18

Talk Tennis Guru
Breaking, Roflmao. Anyway, I think we can all agree that Djokovic played a crappy match. I didn't think Sinner played anything above his standards, but he won. That's what counts. Novak lost. You can't always win. He'll lose again in the future, and probably win some as well. Lets move on.
 

Subway Tennis

G.O.A.T.
Many newspapers have reported this, but they have cited the same source.
What do you think is the cause / motivation for this coming out now? The timing is unusual?
 

GrandSlam24

Semi-Pro
What do you think is the cause / motivation for this coming out now? The timing is unusual?
You should never take the headlines too seriously. Every story is welcome. As a rule, very few are true. It's always about profit. And for attention. As long as the basis of life is in place, you can of course play the game. And the basis of life is guaranteed in the western world.
 
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