"PLAYING THE OLYMPICS WAS A BIG MISTAKE" : Says former Davis Cup Captain on Djokovic

Sunny014

Sunny014

Legend
Novak Djokovic failed to with the Tokyo Olympics and the US Open and former Serbian Davis Cup captain believes the games cost him the grand slam.

Novak Djokovic failed to win the US Open and while he was able to reach the final, Djokovic never looked as sharp or dominant as he did in the previous three grand slams. Something was simply off with the Serbian and several people believe playing the Olympics cost him the Grand Slam. Even before arriving in New York his father said that in his mind playing the Games was a mistake.

That opinion is shared by the former Team captain of the Serbian National Team Goran Bubanj who said:https://tennisuptodate.com/atp/medv...nal-tsitsipas-surprised-after-us-open-triumph

"The main dilemma for Novak Djokovic this year was whether or not he will compete in the Tokyo Olympics. Clearly, it is easy to speak with hindsight, but some evaluations should be made. Participating in the Games was a big mistake from every point of view. He lost his chance to rest at that juncture and prepare for the US Open, which was by far the most important tournament of his career. He will win more Grand Slams than all of them in the men's Tour, but I doubt he will be able to win four in the same season."

Asked to analyze his US Open campaigan Bubanj said the following:

"Nole immediately realized that he did not have the necessary pace to take her home. He has gone down to the net many times, perhaps even Roger Federer would not have adopted such an aggressive tactic. At the same time, it was clear that he had no idea how to run that game."



tennisuptodate.com

"Playing the Olympics was a big mistake" says former Serbian Davis Cup captain on Djokovic

Novak Djokovic failed to with the Tokyo Olympics and the US Open and former Serbian Davis Cup captain believes the games cost him the grand slam. Novak Djokovic failed to win the US Open and while he...
tennisuptodate.com tennisuptodate.com
 
Good to see that apart me and Srdjan Djokovic there are many sane people who believe that Olympics ruined the chances of the CYGS

@skaj : you were arguing with me the other day on Novak knowing more about whats good for him than anyone else ???

Not always true, even players can be wrong....even before the USO began I had posted that Novak might have ruined his chances for the USO by coming to tokyo
 
He was more tired in the final cause he was jerking around prety much every match and trying to turn things around from 1 set deficit. That's why he was tired, then came a brutal SF against Zverev.

This had nothing to do with Olympics. I rather believe he should have played Montreal after Olympics to keep his rythm. He came into USO cold. It's easy to say now what he should have done, but Olympics having an affect isn't it.
 
RF-18 said:
He was more tired in the final cause he was jerking around prety much every match and trying to turn things around from 1 set deficit. That's why he was tired, then came a brutal SF against Zverev.

This had nothing to do with Olympics. I rather believe he should have played Montreal after Olympics to keep his rythm. He came into USO cold. It's easy to say now what he should have done, but Olympics having an affect isn't it.
Click to expand...

He wouldn't have dropped too many sets if he was fresh at home resting a month before the USO.
Immediately after wimbledon there was no need to go after that useless event, he is 34, he is not 24 or 25 like Zverev or Medvedev.
Should have known his body and rested in order to be fresh.
 
Travelling to another country to playing in a tourney and losing, all that takes a toll on your body and it is not something to be done at 34 when you have 50 years old history on the line.

This is common sense.
 
UnforcedTerror said:
The only mistake was him participating in mixed doubles. Should've played only singles, then Cincy and USO.
Click to expand...

Yes mixed doubles was mistake for sure. But even singles was, I mean imagine, travelling halfway across the world, then mentally focussing on olympics, breaking your racquet, all that takes a toll on your body+mind.

When history is on the line and with less gap between Grass and the last slam, he should have rested and directly come to play CIncy..... and then USO.... !
 
Novak lost to the best player in the tournament. Medvedev was on another level.
If Djokovic was tired, he was tired the entire tournament; he lost sets to players ranked outside top 100 and made so many uncharacteristic errors in every match.

We all expected Medvedev to bend over, but at the same time we saw Djokovic was not playing on a high level. But we're used to see him winning slams without playing his best tennis in recent years.
 
Meh I just feel his HC level wasn’t there. Unlike everyone else who told me the early rounds weren’t a big deal, I could tell that a guy dropping sets and straight up getting outplayed by Nishikori, Brooksby, Rune, Berrettini, was not a man who was truly ready to win the US Open.

The Olympics didn’t help in many ways. Don’t get me wrong. Especially mentally. But it just never felt like his level was high enough to win.

The serve falling apart in the final was just as much of an issue as his legs tbh. I think there actually may have been a left shoulder issue (the “injury” cited at the Olympics) there given how timid his BHDTLs were all tournament. Maybe that was the lasting impact of the Olympics?

Either way he had a month between Tokyo and NY. No excuses when you have a month off to prepare.
 
Kralingen said:
Meh I just feel his HC level wasn’t there. Unlike everyone else who told me the early rounds weren’t a big deal, I could tell that a guy dropping sets and straight up getting outplayed by Nishikori, Brooksby, Rune, Berrettini, was not a man who was truly ready to win the US Open.

The Olympics didn’t help in many ways. Don’t get me wrong. Especially mentally. But it just never felt like his level was high enough to win.

The serve falling apart in the final was just as much of an issue as his legs tbh. I think there actually may have been a left shoulder issue (the “injury” cited at the Olympics) there given how timid his BHDTLs were all tournament. Maybe that was the lasting impact of the Olympics?

Either way he had a month between Tokyo and NY. No excuses when you have a month off to prepare.
Click to expand...

Exactly
Olympics took a huge mental toll on him, that was not required.

He would not dropped so many sets to nobodies at the USO if he had skipped the Olympics and would have beaten Medvedev in 4 or 5 tight sets, but that ended in straight sets drubbing because he was too tired at the time he came to the USO, mentally Olympics drained him :D
 
He didn’t play Cincy or Canada, he had more than enough time to rest before the USO. His issue was that he was dropping sets in pretty much every match leading up to the F to Brooksby level players. He also succumbed to the pressure of winning the CYGS. Lastly the Mad Lad put on a serving and tactical clinic.

Playing the Olympics had no bearing on the outcome of this USO.
 
Smart decision would have been to skip Olympics and focus on CYGS. Dumbest decision would have been to play singles as well as doubles in Olympics. Djokovic made second choice and paid price for it.
 
BeatlesFan said:
And so did millions of others, including many Djokovic fans. At 34, it was sheer folly to go to Tokyo, especially with no crowds and COVID protocols.
Click to expand...

True.
Very dumb indeed.

This is what happens when someone becomes too greedy, he got trapped in the hype of goldem slam or whatever, he is not a spring chicken, he should have let go of the olympics and focussed on USO with his full strength/focus.
 
The Olympics actually ruined his mental health.

He came out of wimbledon a winner and a happy man.

He came out of the Olympics an irate man who was breaking racquets, yelling at people, throwing racquet into the stands, being criticized for ditching his female partner Nina ... all in all ruined his mental peace
 
Nostradamus said:
what about golden slam ? he would have been the goat if he achieved that.
Click to expand...
Djokovic knows how big the Olympics are for Goat contenders. Graf serena rafa have been Olympic champions. It matters legacy wise. Agassi is lauded for his Golden career Slam.
djokovic mistake was proclaiming himself he golden CYGS winner before it happened which he sort of kept alludig to. He put pressure on himself and then mentally folded.
 
goldengate14 said:
Djokovic knows how big the Olympics are for Goat contenders. Graf serena rafa have been Olympic champions. It matters legacy wise. Agassi is lauded for his Golden career Slam.
djokovic mistake was proclaiming himself he golden CYGS winner before it happened which he sort of kept alludig to. He put pressure on himself and then mentally folded.
Click to expand...

Now you are comfirmed to be beckerserve, you bash Novak and yet you consider Olympics as important for GOAT. :-D

Only 1 person in this universe meets this criteria

cc @GabeT , @Third Serve, @Nole Slam, @Hitman
 
Clearly the Olympics are a big deal to Novak so skipping on the opportunity to win the gold might've weighed heavily on him. And now in hindsight implying that Novak's choice to play in Tokyo was the mistake that caused things to go wrong at the USO, it's a bit of a reach to give a reason for Novak's failure other than him just not being good enough in the very end. If Bubanj shared such opinion before the USO final, that would be a different thing.
 
goldengate14 said:
Djokovic knows how big the Olympics are for Goat contenders. Graf serena rafa have been Olympic champions. It matters legacy wise. Agassi is lauded for his Golden career Slam.
djokovic mistake was proclaiming himself he golden CYGS winner before it happened which he sort of kept alludig to. He put pressure on himself and then mentally folded.
Click to expand...
goldengate14 said:
Djokovic knows how big the Olympics are for Goat contenders. Graf serena rafa have been Olympic champions. It matters legacy wise. Agassi is lauded for his Golden career Slam.
djokovic mistake was proclaiming himself he golden CYGS winner before it happened which he sort of kept alludig to. He put pressure on himself and then mentally folded.
Click to expand...

Novak said he's the goden CYG before it happened ?? when did he say that ??
where were these guys when novak neeedded them ?

maxresdefault.jpg
 
The Fedfather said:
Clearly the Olympics are a big deal to Novak so skipping on the opportunity to win the gold might've weighed heavily on him. And now in hindsight implying that Novak's choice to play in Tokyo was the mistake that caused things to go wrong at the USO, it's a bit of a reach to give a reason for Novak's failure other than him just not being good enough in the very end. If Bubanj shared such opinion before the USO final, that would be a different thing.
Click to expand...

Saying that before the final would be like demotivating Novak.
He wouldn't do that.
 
Sunny014 said:
Ok, nevermind, I am joking.

Pray tell me how is Olympics so important for Tennis ??

It is just an event where players represent their countries and it is the best of 3, how is it so important?
Click to expand...
Just by what the players say. Personally i do not think they should be in the Olympics at all but the players seem to consider them a massive deal.
Djokovic must agree they are massive or why would he risk the CYgS.
I am a traditionalist. Tennis should not be in the Olympics. Neither should BMX or surfing or skateboarding. Football actually should be full teams though
 
Who exactly told Djokovic not to go for the Golden Slam? :-D :-D :-D I'm glad he played the Olympics otherwise the Would've Theorists would be saying he would definitely have won the gold medal if he'd played.

I don't think he should have played the USO either then he would've had the moral CYGS.
 
Last edited:
goldengate14 said:
Just by what the players say. Personally i do not think they should be in the Olympics at all but the players seem to consider them a massive deal.
Djokovic must agree they are massive or why would he risk the CYgS.
I am a traditionalist. Tennis should not be in the Olympics. Neither should BMX or surfing or skateboarding. Football actually should be full teams though
Click to expand...
Luckily, it's not up to you.:love:
 
The only reason he went there was to have golden slam. Why cant people get it.
Had he opted out of olympics and won US Open, it would have been lifetime regret

Now how olympic loss affected Djokovic. Not only golden slam was gone, his invincibility also went.

But nevertheless, he did the houdini act twice this year. Sometimes it had to fall.
 
He lost some first sets at Wim too, and if Shapovalov wouldn't have a mental block and always made the false shot selection on big points, he could have won that match in three. Michael Stich, who commented on the match on Eurosport said the same. I have seen Djoker playing much more fluent and smooth at Wim before, and even there he could have had problems with Zverev or Med, if they had adapted more to grass. At Wim he is more at ease and often in better form than at Flushing, where his record especially in finals isn't that good for the best hardcourter of the last 10 years.
 
The Olympics was a waste of time and I was against him going from the beginning, but that didn't ruin his chances at the CYGS. Him being stubborn and playing the mixed doubles did. That took a lot of emotional energy out of him, where he went home with nothing, that he needed to win the CYGS. He still could have pulled it off if he had an easier draw or if he didn't spend as much time on the court before the final.
 
He had to play Olympics - Paris 2023 is a long way away! His form peaked in Paris. He did not play well at Wimbledon - he won partly due to the lack of grass court specialists. US Open was different - Zverev followed by Meddy would have been tough with or without Olympics.

Playing the mixed doubles - now that was a strange decision. Can't quite fathom that one.
 
Rafaforehand74 said:
He had to play Olympics - Paris 2023 is a long way away! His form peaked in Paris. He did not play well at Wimbledon - he won partly due to the lack of grass court specialists. US Open was different - Zverev followed by Meddy would have been tough with or without Olympics.

Playing the mixed doubles - now that was a strange decision. Can't quite fathom that one.
Click to expand...
Djokovic wanted 2 Olympic Gold Medals to match Rafa.
 
goldengate14 said:
Just by what the players say. Personally i do not think they should be in the Olympics at all but the players seem to consider them a massive deal.
Djokovic must agree they are massive or why would he risk the CYgS.
I am a traditionalist. Tennis should not be in the Olympics. Neither should BMX or surfing or skateboarding. Football actually should be full teams though
Click to expand...
Should badminton be in the Olympics? Table tennis?
 
"You can't have it all" life lesson at play here. Should have skipped Olympics and rested. Of course, not taking away anything from Meddy who played like Fedr-lite.
 
big ted said:
maybe a mistake in hindsight but he had to go for the golden slam, u cant turn that down..
Click to expand...

Golden Slam was probably some silly term coined by some fan of Graf, much similar to some goldern super career slam type nonsense which fans of Agassi are propagating.

In reality only CYGS has some credibility since it was coined 50-70 years back, rest of terms are nonsense.
 
clayqueen said:
Who exactly told Djokovic not to go for the Golden Slam? :-D :-D :-D I'm glad he played the Olympics otherwise the Would've Theorists would be saying he would definitely have won the gold medal if he'd played.

I don't think he should have played the USO either then he would've had the moral CYGS.
Click to expand...

Had he skipped Olympics nonsense then he would have won USO and his fans would have given him a moral Olympics title too, this is true.
 
There is absolutely no guarantee that Djokovic would have won the USO if he hadn't gone to the Olympics. Had Djokovic not gone to the Olympics but still didn't win the USO his fans would be saying he should have gone to the Olympics to get the momentum for the CYGS.
 
Sunny014 said:
Good to see that apart me and Srdjan Djokovic there are many sane people who believe that Olympics ruined the chances of the CYGS

@skaj : you were arguing with me the other day on Novak knowing more about whats good for him than anyone else ???

Not always true, even players can be wrong....even before the USO began I had posted that Novak might have ruined his chances for the USO by coming to tokyo
Click to expand...

Without the Olympics match practice Djokovic would have lost to Zverev in the USO semis...
To suggest that Djokovic was tired at the USO because he played at the Olympics four weeks earlier is ludicrous.
 
clayqueen said:
There is absolutely no guarantee that Djokovic would have won the USO if he hadn't gone to the Olympics. Had Djokovic not gone to the Olympics but still didn't win the USO his fans would be saying he should have gone to the Olympics to get the momentum for the CYGS.
Click to expand...


He lost all his Wimbledon momentum by travelling to tokyo like an idiot for some worthless gold medal playing before empty stands, drained himself mentally....
 
Physically I don't think the Olympics were a factor since he had plenty of time in between to rest and prepare. Mentally however, his double meltdown from winning positions against both Zverez and PCB at the games must have taken a toll and damaged his confidence, which had a ripple effect throughout the US Open.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Z
Djokovic´s father says Davis Cup draw was rigged
2
Replies
60
Views
5K
NamRanger
N
raftermania
Ivanisevic soon to be named Croatia's Davis Cup Captain
Replies
18
Views
1K
raftermania
raftermania
Plamen1234
US Davis Cup captain Jim Courier steps down after 8 eight years in charge
Replies
0
Views
300
Plamen1234
Plamen1234
Frenchy-Player
‘Novak Djokovic will lose at the Olympics’, expects John McEnroe.
Replies
12
Views
1K
daphne
D
Frenchy-Player
Djokovic has ‘highest aspirations and ambitions’ for Tokyo Olympics.
Replies
15
Views
927
MichaelNadal
MichaelNadal
Back
Top