Djokovic suffered defeat in the atp year-end final semifinals on Saturday night against Zverev, but still had a big smile on his face as he hugged the German in front of the net. They are enemies on the field, but they are friends off the field, respecting each other regardless of whether they win or lose. "Of course we want to win each other, but mutual respect and appreciation are more important than winning or losing. Sasha and I have always felt this way. I really appreciate it. Djokovic said. I wish him all the best. He's a great guy, a great tennis player and I'm sure he'll be a Grand Slam champion soon. ”
In the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics earlier this year, Zverev also ended Djokovic's dream of a golden slam. Although the Serb was disappointed by the failure to win the title in Turin, losing the record of equaling Federer to win the finals (6), he did not show frustration when congratulating the 2018 title. "Sasha is also a good friend of mine off the pitch. We got along very well. Djokovic said. We talked a lot about life, a lot of different things. I'm always happy to share some of my experiences with him. Our relationship has been great. ”
Djokovic controlled his serve for most of the game — he won 87 percent of his first serve, served 15 aces and was only broken once. But Zverev's serve was also good, with 63 percent of second-serve scores. "He's one of the best servers in the world... He proved it tonight. There were a few times when his serve got himself out of trouble," Djokovic said. "I'm doing well too. I played a very bad game in the third set. Three forehands, one backhand unforced error, is really an easy position. I really wasted the chance in that game. Even though I thought the score was fair, I had a chance to pull back an inning and went 2-4 down in the third set and I missed the forehand again. It was a tough game. But I loved it. I think it was a wonderful game, a high quality tennis match. We pushed each other as usual. The match lasted 2 hours and 28 minutes, but Djokovic insisted he wasn't tired. He just played a bad game in the decider and made him pay the price. "I could play for a few more hours, no problem. It was a bad game, 2-4 behind in the third set, a very bad game with four unforced errors," Djokovic said. "In this case, you face a strong opponent in the game and it's hard to recover from that situation. That's it. ”
Djokovic still has a fantastic season. In 2021, he broke Federer's record for the number of weeks in the world and topped the ATP year-end rankings for the seventh time, surpassing his idol Pete Sampras. The most recent Paris Masters champion also won three Grand Slams at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, tying the record for Federer and Nadal with 20 Grand Slams. It was also his 10th semi-finalist in the year-end finals. "There is no doubt that it has been a great season. I didn't play a lot of games, but still ended the season as year-end number one for the seventh time, breaking the year-end record for number one, world number one, and winning three of the four Grand Slams," Djokovic said. "It's been an extraordinary year. Maybe it could have been done better in other attp games. But all in all, the season ended well, we won the title in Paris and reached the semi-finals here. ”