World No.2 Novak Djokovic emphasizes on the plenty of positive takeaways from his defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2019 in Abu Dhabi.
Djokovic was playing his first match after taking some time off the court following a tough loss at the 2019 ATP Finals, missing the opportunity to reclaim the No.1 spot.
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However, the Serbian started strongly against the ATP Finals champion as he clinched the opening set. Djokovic’s first set lead faded in the second before Tsitsipas claimed another impressive scalp defeat Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
“I’m actually very pleased” – Novak Djokovic
In spite of the loss, the 16-time Grand Slam champion explained that he is not worried about his performance. The 32-year-old, in fact, suggest that is very happy with the way he is moving on the court.
“It was a two-hour match and there were a lot of great exchanges and great rallies,” Djokovic said in the post-match interview.
“I’m actually very pleased with the way I’m moving on the court. But I still feel that I have a couple more gears I will be working on in the next couple of weeks” the Serb added.
Novak Djokovic also shortened his off-season due to representing his country at the Davis Cup Finals last month. The five-time champion in Abu Dhabi was hence positive with the results.
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He concluded: “The aim is to hit my best possible form just before the Australian Open or even for the ATP Cup. The off-season wasn’t that long, and I only recently started playing tennis again, so it was positive.”
Djokovic got the better of Karen Khachanov to take the third place in the non-ATP affiliated three-day event in Abu Dhabi. He will now begin his 2020 season by representing Serbia in the ATP Cup in Australia.