“Just fatigue from grueling battle” – Djokovic gives details on his alarming physical struggles, but not many, after win over Medvedev

Asked to explain what it has been like, over the course of his brilliant career, to face so much adversity and be close to the physical and mental brink so often, and to come through, Novak Djokovic gave a thoughtful response that explains who he is as an athlete and a competitor.

“I don’t think that a limit exists,” he said on Friday after pushing past Daniil Medvedev in a third-set tiebreaker to complete round robin play undefeated in Turin. “It’s really in your head. It’s really about perspective and approach and your perception of how you see things in that given moment.

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“Of course, when you’re going through physical struggles, it affects the game, it affects how you feel mentally, it affects your body language. Of course, the opponent likes seeing you down, and he’s trying to dominate in the rallies, he’s trying to get the upper hand of the match, which was kind of the situation that was happening today.

“But I think the biggest battle, as I’ve said before, is always the inner battle. If you manage to find yourself in that optimal state of mind and body as often as you possibly can, I feel you can extract the best and reap the best results for yourself in every moment, every point, every match.”

Images of Djokovic convulsing in his chair after the second set were alarming, but the great champion says it was just another hurdle – there for him to jump over.

“Just fatigue” – Djokovic

The 21-time major champion certainly had his struggles on Friday against Medvedev, but it was not illness or any injury that he faced – simply fatigue. After his 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) triumph Djokovic talked about his physical state.

“It was just fatigue from grueling battle,” he said. “That’s all I can say. I mean, there was no illness. There was no particular part of the body that was bothering me. It was just overall physical exhaustion from the rallies and from the length of the play.”

Djokovic said that he took the contest with Medvedev seriously, even though he had already clinched first place in the Red Group in Turin. He simply can’t keep those competitive juices from flowing, nor does he want to send the fans home without having witnessed some quality tennis.

I’m not the freshest guy right now talking to you as I was maybe yesterday.

— Novak Djokovic

“I had a day off between the first two matches always, so I felt fresh coming into the match,” he said. “But as you always are, I was a bit more nervous and tense coming into the match against one of the top players of the world, top rivals, that Medvedev is for me in the last several years. You want to win regardless of the qualification that I already have, the elimination he has before the match. It doesn’t matter.”

Whatever actually bothered Djokovic on the court, he wasn’t willing to discuss it in detail – not with a semi-final with Taylor Fritz on Saturday’s menu.

“I’m not going to go into details”

“There was a lot of different things,” he said. “But I’m not going to go into details about it because I just don’t feel it’s a place for me to share that because why would I? I don’t want to reveal what I’m going through exactly to my opponents.

“Everyone has one of those days where they struggle more physically. For me that was today. I’m very proud to be able to find a way, because that’s what we are I think owing to ourselves and to the team and to the people who come and watch you, is to always try to give your very best in that given moment.”

“I’m not the freshest guy right now”

Whether there will be a price to pay on Saturday for emptying the tank to win a three-plus hour slugfest remains to be seen. Throughout his career, Djokovic has been a master of recovery, and in 2022, with less tennis under his belt than a typical season, it might be easier for him to push through.

“I’m not the freshest guy right now talking to you as I was maybe yesterday,” he said, adding that there is value in the victory as well. “Of course, I’m very proud and content to be able to win the match that I did today for the reasons that I spoke about earlier. I feel that every big win against one of the best players in the world, particularly Medvedev in these conditions, can only boost your confidence.”

Djokovic says he isn’t concerned about turning around and playing on back-to-back days for the first time this week. He’s taken this particular examination many times before, and passed with flying colors.

“On the physical side, I’m not worried because worry just depletes you of the vital energy you need,” he said. “If something happens tomorrow in a good or bad way, it happens and I have to deal with it then tomorrow.

“I’m going to do everything I possibly can today with my physio, with myself, with my team in order to get the good rest, the good recovery. I have things that have always been part of my routine. I know what I need to do. I’ve had many cases in my life before where I managed to recover very quickly. Hopefully that’s going to be the case again.”

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