{"id":1696,"date":"2026-02-01T16:15:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T16:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1696"},"modified":"2026-02-01T16:15:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T16:15:20","slug":"novak-djokovic-hints-at-physical-issue-that-affected-him-in-defeat-against-carlos-alcaraz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1696","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic hints at \u2018physical\u2019 issue that affected him in defeat against Carlos Alcaraz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic<\/a> suggested a physical issue may have played a decisive role in his defeat against Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> in the Australian Open final, as he insisted he is ready to fight on in his quest to win a 25th Grand Slam title.<\/p>\n

After his stunning win against defending champion Jannik Sinner on Friday, Djokovic stormed through the first set against Alcaraz and appeared to be on course to collect the title that would have left him with the most majors in tennis history.<\/p>\n

He is currently tied on 24 Grand Slam wins with Australian great Margaret Court, but he is ahead of his nearest rival, Rafael Nadal, on the list of male Grand Slam winners by two titles.<\/p>\n

That 25th title continues to elude him, with this match against Alcaraz the closest he has go to achieving his goal as he got to within two sets of glory before losing 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.<\/p>\n

While he did not suggest he was suffering with an injury against Alcaraz, Djokovic admitted he was hit by a dip in energy in the second set that affected his hopes.<\/p>\n

More Tennis News<\/h2>\n

Novak Djokovic\u2019s Australian Open runner-up speech: Warm messages to Nadal & Alcaraz; and a retirement hint?<\/a><\/p>\n

Former British No 1 predicts Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s final Grand Slam total after Australian Open glory<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI remain disappointed with the way I felt in second and third after an incredible start, and I felt great about myself and then, yeah, things changed,\u201d said Djokovic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is what it is. That\u2019s sport, but of course, when you draw a line and you make, you know, an assessment of what happened the last couple of weeks, it\u2019s an incredible achievement for me to be able to play finals, be a couple of sets away to win a championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, after a loss, it\u2019s a bitter feeling, but nevertheless, I have to be, yeah, content with this result.\u201d<\/p>\n

When pressed to explain what he meant and whether he had an injury issue, he added: \u201cI mean, look, I never like to talk about things that, you know, I go through physically or health-wise, because it\u2019s going to come across as I\u2019m looking for excuses and taking away the credit of the winner, so it\u2019s not going to change this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just going to congratulate Carlos. He was the deserved winner on the court today. No, I\u2019m not going to share.<\/p>\n

\u201cGame-wise, you saw it. I mean, for the first set was one of the best sets I\u2019ve played the last couple of years. Then, you know, I kind of regained my energy back and momentum in mid-fourth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Djokovic has suffered from mid-match dips in energy in recent years, but he was often able to find a second a third wind that drove him on to glory.<\/p>\n

Those bursts of renewed energy do not seem to be forthcoming at this latter stage of his career and amid his disappointment, he was encouraged by his run to the final.<\/p>\n

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cI have belief, and I have always, you know, confidence and vision to win a Slam, another Slam anywhere, to win anywhere where I play, but I did not expect it. That\u2019s different,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cExpectations, I lowered my expectations last couple of years, which also, I think, allows me to be able to, you know, let go of some of that unnecessary additional stress. You know, it\u2019s always tension and stress and pressure, and I just don\u2019t want to be overwhelmed by it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also feels good a little bit not being always the main favourite to win Slams. I think that kind of gives you a little bit of that extra motivation, I guess, when it comes down to the last rounds of the Slam.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I mean, look, I managed to beat Jannik, who is double defending champion here and won the last whatever, four, five matches against me, in five sets, very proud of that. Incredible match, incredible achievement.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, you know, you\u2019re speaking to me ten minutes after I lost the final, so of course I\u2019m going to be a little bit bitter about losing. But, again, I lost to a No 1 in the world and already a legendary player.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Youngest men to complete Career Grand Slam in Open Era: Alcaraz beats Federer, Djokovic, Nadal<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Novak Djokovic hints at \u2018physical\u2019 issue that affected him in defeat against Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic suggested a physical issue may have played a decisive role in his defeat against Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final, as he insisted he is ready to fight on in his quest to win a 25th Grand Slam title. After his stunning win against defending champion Jannik Sinner on Friday, Djokovic stormed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1696\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}