The Serbian Novak Djokovic, beaten and eliminated with his team in the semi-final of the Davis Cup by Italy on Saturday in Malaga when he had three qualifying points for the final, declared “to take responsibility” for the defeat .
“For me it’s a big disappointment, I take responsibility for it, obviously, having had three match points, having been so close to winning,” he said after the elimination. The world No.1 had three match points during the second singles, against Jannik Sinner, to offer the second point to Serbia, synonymous with a ticket to the final.
But the Italian, No.4 in the ATP, erased them before winning 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 then winning the doubles against the same Novak Djokovic in the process 6-3, 6 -4.
“It’s really sad, it’s sport, when you lose for your country, you know, the feeling of bitterness is even stronger,” he continued. A defeat that was “hard to swallow” according to “Nole”, who had made the Davis Cup one of his end-of-season goals, after winning three Grand Slam titles (Australian Open, Roland-Garros and US Open) and the Masters this year.
“I know Jannik’s qualities, but I thought maybe he would drop a little in the doubles, but that wasn’t the case,” said the 2010 Davis Cup winner. According to Djokovic , the Italians “deserve it, they played very well, especially Jannik, in the singles against me and in the doubles too”. “He almost didn’t miss the ball during the whole match, we can only say well done,” said the 36-year-old Serbian.