‘It’s a bit worrisome’ – Novak Djokovic on the ‘illness’ that hampered his progress in the Serbia Open final

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic said that he faced health issues during the Serbia Open final on Sunday, April 24 against Andrey Rublev. The World No.1 lost the game 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-0 in Belgrave and admitted that he ran out of gas in the final set where Rublev dominated him thoroughly.

The veteran said that the issues he encountered in the final were similar to his second round exit in the Monte Carlo Masters earlier this month. Back then, he lost to the 46th-ranked Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 after dropping his serve as many as nine times.

“It’s a bit worrisome. I can only assume it’s because of the illness that hit me a few weeks ago. But I have to look at the positives, I’ve won three matches from a set down. At least this bad feeling physically came in the fourth match rather than the first match in Monte Carlo,” Djokovic was quoted as saying.

‘The recovery is taking longer for me’

Despite the hassles, Djokovic has set his goals clear for the upcoming French Open. “Things are progressing slowly but surely… Again, Paris is the big goal,” he stated. Djokovic won the tournament in 2021 at Rolland Garros after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas.

On his defeat in Sunday’s final, the 34-year-old Djokovic said that he started feeling the heat in the second set that went into the tie-breaker.

“The 5-4 game was a long game and that is when I started to not feel great. I didn’t like the feeling today. The whole third set was similar to the feeling I was experiencing in Monte Carlo. It never really happened like this. That’s why I think it’s maybe the illness that was quite tough for me physically and health wise. I guess the recovery is taking longer for me than I expected,” Djokovic added.