Star tennis player Novak Djokovic experienced disappointment after his loss to Italy's Jannik Sinner, resulting in Serbia's exit from the 2023 Davis Cup semifinals. In contrast, Italy secured a spot in the Davis Cup final for the first time in 25 years on November 25. Sinner played a crucial role in Italy's 2-1 victory over Serbia, winning both singles and doubles matches, setting the stage for a final against Australia.
Sinner and his doubles partner Lorenzo Sonego secured a historic victory by defeating Serbia's Djokovic and Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-4. This significant win eliminated the former champions and sparked enthusiastic celebrations at Spain's Martin Carpena Arena. After the match, Djokovic extended his heartfelt congratulations to Italy for their victory and praised Sinner's outstanding performance, especially in the singles match against him.
"Well, congratulations to Italy for qualifying for finals. They deserved it. They played well, particularly Jannik, in singles against me and then doubles, as well. He barely missed the ball the entire match. So, you know, you can only say congrats and hats down for the performance like that”, Djokovic said in a press conference.
The loss was a tough blow for Djokovic, who had a remarkable season, winning three out of four Grand Slams. The 36-year-old experienced his first defeat in Davis Cup singles since the 2011 semi-final against Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro. This marked only the fourth occasion Djokovic lost a tour-level match after holding a match point. Notably, Sinner became the first player since Daniil Medvedev in 2019 to beat the 24-time Grand Slam champion twice in singles in the same season.
"For me it's a huge disappointment, because I take the responsibility, obviously having three match points, being so close to winning it. Yeah, it's unfortunate really. This is a sport. When you lose for your country, you know, the bitter feeling is even greater," Djokovic added.
Djokovic commented on his country's elimination from the 2023 Davis Cup Finals, describing it as a challenging defeat to accept, particularly because he had put forth his best effort to clinch the trophy.
"This is a tough one to swallow. I was, you know, trying to hype myself and encourage myself, you know, for this week. Throughout the entire season, you know, my thoughts were this week, you know, with my Davis Cup team," he concluded.
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