Google News
Serbian tennis superstar Novak Djokovic admitted it wasn't his day and qualifier Jiri Vesely was the better player. Djokovic, seeded at No. 1, suffered a shock loss in the Dubai quarterfinal as Vesely stunned the Serb 6-4 7-6 (4).
It was the second meeting between Djokovic and Vesely. Vesely kept a perfect head-to-head record against Djokovic as he also beat the Serb in the first meeting at the Monte Carlo Masters in 2016. "Unfortunately, wasn't my day.
I congratulate Jiri. He played better. He just went for his shots. His serve was big. His whole game was big," Djokovic said after the loss, per Sasa Ozmo.
Djokovic was playing his first event of the season
"The more matches I play, the more comfortable I get on the court.
I didn't have many matches at all last few months," Djokovic noted. "I'll have to follow the situation, see how it goes. Wherever I get an opportunity to play, I will (smiling). Hopefully that will be soon." After the loss, Djokovic underlined that he is still extremely motivated to achieve success.
"Of course I'm still motivated and I'm still pissed off when I lose a match. I care about winning every match, as anybody else on the tour.I'm actually glad that I'm feeling a lot of emotions every single day because it means that I really want to be part of this sport," Djokovic added.
Djokovic is set to turn 35 in April but he insists his age is not a concern. "I don't look at the age really as a restricting factor for my career. I still feel great in terms of my body and the way it's holding on, the way it's recovering.
It's been serving me well, so to say. That's something that obviously encourages me to keep going," Djokovic concluded. Earlier this week, Djokovic admitted that he likely won't be allowed to compete at the Indian Wells Masters in March.