Novak Djokovic hailed Tallon Griekspoor after their Paris Masters R3 match while revealing that he ran out of tank after spending “more time on the toilet seat than on the court” in the last couple of days.
After starting the Paris-Bercy with an easy win over Tomas Etcheverry on Wednesday, the Serbian looked completely lost against Griekspoor a day later as the narrowly avoided an upset loss that looked very much on the cards.
From the very set it was clear that something was not right during the clash and after the match the 24-time Slam champion revealed that his stomach was bothering him on the court.
The Dutch after taking the first set was handed some break point opportunities but the 24-time major winner held his ground and managed to emerge with a 4-6, 7-6(7-2), 6-4 win despite all odds. At the end of match, Djokovic admitted that it was not an easy day and he was quite lucky to win against the ATP #23 seed at the end.
“I don’t want to take anything away from his performance. He didn’t drop the level,” Djokovic said. “Maybe in the third set a few games he did a bit, but he was playing at a very high level and credit to him for that performance. If he would be the winner tonight, it would be absolutely deserved.
“I started off well but I ran out of steam. I’ve been struggling the last couple of days with my stomach and I just didn’t feel myself at all. I was just trying to hold my serve and get to a tie-break, which happened in the second.
“I got lucky on a couple of shots there. It could have easily gone his way, but overall I played a good tie-break and I started to feel better in the third. I’m really, really glad to overcome this challenge,” said the 2022 Paris runner up.
The 36-year-old admitted that it was not some regular abdominal bugs that drained him before and during the clash with Dutchman.
“Well it’s hard to have a clear mind when you spent more time on the toilet seat than on the court the last three days,” added Djokovic.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion admitted that toughing it out today was not easy but he will look forward for a better tomorrow.
“Just the energy levels were very low the last few days and I’m taking it day by day. Today is probably the worst day so I’m just hoping that tomorrow will be better, that the curve will start going in the right direction for me.”
Djokovic will not have much time to recover from the stomach illness as he will be back on court on Friday to face defending champion Holger Rune – who beat him in last year’s final – in the quarters.