Third best tennis player of all time in terms of Grand Slam titles won (17, behind Nadal and Federer), the fate of Novak Djokovic could have been quite different, as he told Sky Sport Italia . In 2010, Djokovic was only 22 when he lost in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros against the Austrian Jürgen Melzer (then 27th in the world) (6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 6-7, 4-6) after leading two sets to nothing. The Serbian only has one Grand Slam title, won in 2008 in Australia against Tsonga.
“This defeat was very difficult for me emotionally. I cried after being knocked out It was a bad time, I wanted to stop tennis because I was seeing everything in black, "he explains, adding that despite his success he was not happy then. But according to the Serb, this defeat will finally take the form of a turning point. “From that moment on, I felt liberated. It took the pressure off, I started playing more aggressively. "
The beginning of a harvest
Difficult to prove him wrong: the following year he won the Australian Open, then Wimbledon and the US Open, only losing in the semi-final against Roger Federer at Roland-Garros. Thirteen other major titles will follow, and 282 weeks spent as the world number 1 overall. Djokovic is today three titles from the Grand Slam of Roger Federer's record and two from his runner-up, Rafael Nadal.
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