LONDON: Exhausted Novak Djokovic blamed his lacklustre Wimbledon final defeat against Andy Murray on being unable to recover quickly enough from his gruelling semi-final victory.
Djokovic had taken over four hours and 43 minutes to defeat Juan Martin del Potro in a bruising five-set classic just 48 hours earlier.
And with the All England Club basking in sweltering temperatures of 40 degrees yesterday, the usually hyper-energetic Djokovic found it impossible to rouse himself enough to subdue Murray.
“It took a lot out of me. I cannot look for excuses but yes the previous match went almost five hours, five sets,” Djokovic said.
“I’ve been in these situations before. I felt okay but maybe physically I didn’t have enough gas in the important moments.
“I went for my shots more than usual. Okay, that’s life. You have to move on.
“It was a very long match for three sets today. But the bottom line is that he was a better player in the decisive moments.”
Djokovic had been in sublime form en route to the final, but the top seed couldn’t recapture that form as tiredness set in during his first straight sets defeat at a Grand Slam since a 2010 Wimbledon loss to Tomas Berdych.
And he admitted his aching limbs and mental fatigue scrambled his thought process and made him take too many risks.
“In both second and third sets, I was 4-2 up and dropped the serve in those games and just allowed him to come back for no reason,” Djokovic said.
“I should have played better in the decisive moments. I wasn’t patient enough.
“I believed I could come back, but I didn’t play on the top of my abilities and with this kind of game I didn’t have a chance to win.
“But he was getting some incredible shots on the stretch and running down the dropshots. He was all over the court. He played fantastic tennis, no question about it. He deserved to win.”
“I guess the understanding of what he needs to do to win big matches has improved.” AFP
