Did Djokovic lose due to mysterious illness?
He doesn't want to give details, but "it's not a corona virus"
Created: 04/27/2022 05:39
By: Michael Haug
Novak Djokovic has dominated the tennis world for many years.
He lost 6-0 in the third set in the final in Belgrade against Andrei Rublev.
What's behind it?
Belgrade – 20 Grand Slam titles, twelve of them since 2015. With all the controversies about his person, on the tennis court, Novak Djokovic was almost always reliable.
No player has won nearly as many Grand Slam tournaments since 2015.
In total, Djokovic won 37 Masters titles, no player has ever won as many tournaments in this category.
Tennis: Djokovic's 2022 season has so far been weak for his standards
Outside the field, Novak Djokovic is by no means so undisputed, in February he caused a stir with confused vaccination statements.
Because of his refusal to be vaccinated, he missed many tournaments in the past year.
At least he reached the final at his home tournament in Belgrade, but lost it against the Russian Andrei Rublev 2:6, 7:6, 0:6.
It was Djokovic's third defeat this season and in just the eighth game.
A disastrous record for a player with Djokovic's claims.
Especially when you consider: Rublev was the only top 10 player the Serb faced in those eight duels!
Tennis star Novak Djokovic at his home tournament in Belgrade © IMAGO/Alexandar Djorovich
Mysterious illness: Why is Novak Djokovic out of shape?
At the subsequent press conference, Djokovic explained the reasons for his ultimately clear defeat against Rublev.
His statements should worry his fans.
"I can only imagine that it is due to the illness that struck me a few weeks ago.
It's an individual sport, if something goes wrong the engine can't run," explained Djokovic.
"It's not coronavirus and I don't want to go into further details, but it's something that's affecting my metabolism," added the 34-year-old.
Djokovic spoke of an unsettling feeling.
In the first two sentences he didn't feel tired.
Tiredness only started with the game to 5:4 in the second set, a long, hard-fought service game.
Djokovic: "It's never happened to me before"
What should worry his fans even more: Djokovic has already done the same thing in Monte Carlo.
At that time he also lost in the third set, 6-1 against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
"That has never happened to me, not even in the early stages of my career, but only now in Monte Carlo and then here," the Serbian folk hero commented on his tiredness.
"So I think it has to do with the illness I went through, which was a bit tough both physically and health-wise," Djokovic surmised.
The next big goal for Djokovic and the other tennis stars is the French Open.
From May 22nd to June 5th, Paris is about the second Grand Slam title of the year.
Djokovic starts as the defending champion.
Here you can see an overview of all games and dates of the French Open 2022.
