Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports

'He didn’t go to sleep,' Novak Djokovic’s subpar performance against Jannik Sinner criticized by John McEnroe

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Rishab Dutta | Last updated 1/27/24

Seven-time singles Grand Slam winner John McEnroe, who is a part of Eurosport’s commentary team, has expressed his surprise at Novak Djokovic suffering a defeat against Jannik Sinner in the semi-final of the 2024 Australian Open. This was the first time that the Serb lost in an Australian Open semi-final match and his record until this Friday was 20-0.

Sinner completely dominated the Serb from the very beginning, winning the first two sets in style. The Serb made a comeback in the third set that came very close and was decided in the tiebreaker, but Sinner maintained his composure and qualified for his first ever Grand Slam final. He will now face Daniil Medvedev in the final who has now reached six Grand Slam finals before.

McEnroe praised Sinner very highly after the match. He said that the youngster showed his mental toughness as he won the match against Novak Djokovic against the odds. Djokovic, who has won the Australian Slam 10-times in the past, is considered to be almost undefeated here and the Italian has proven everyone wrong.

I think he showed more than anything his mental toughness. To be that close and taste it, and Djokovic had the crowd getting into it, and here you go again with a guy that’s won it ten times. Now what? John McEnroe told Eurosport

John McEnroe bets that Novak Djokovic surely couldn’t go to sleep after his loss to Sinner

McEnroe is of the opinion that Djokovic surely could not sleep after his loss to Jannik Sinner and watched the match between Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev to see who he would have faced in the final. The Serb himself admitted in the post-match performance that this was his worst performance in a Grand Slam match, as far as he could remember.

I would bet my life savings that he was up to see who won that match [between Medvedev and Zverev]. He didn't go to bed, he was glued to see who he would play in the final. McEnroe about Sinner

The Serb will now shift his focus on to the upcoming tournaments, i.e., the Indian Wells and the Miami Open. These are two tournaments in which he has not been able to participate for the past two years because of his non-vaccinated status and he will surely look to win them this time.

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