Novak Djokovic gave a brutally honest verdict of his results after losing to Casper Ruud in the semi-final of the Monte-Carlo Masters. The world No. 1 wasted no time in getting away after his disappointing defeat, holding a brief press conference less than 20 minutes after coming off the court.
Djokovic suffered his first defeat to Ruud in six meetings on Saturday. He gave the match away on a double fault as the world No. 10 came through 7-5 1-6 6-4.
It means the Serb still hasn’t reached a final in the 2024 season, let alone lifted a title. And Djokovic made a savage statement about his results this season, admitting they hadn’t been up to scratch.
He said: “Well, I mean, I’m used to really high standard in terms of expectations of the results, so not having a title is, maybe comparing to the last 15 years, not a great season at all,” he said in a short appearance in front of the media minutes after his loss.
It also doesn’t help that the 24-time Grand Slam champion has barely played this year. His only events so far have been the United Cup, the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Monte Carlo, with the former being a team tournament. But he is hoping that he can build on his run in Monaco.
Djokovic continued: “But I had semis of Australia, semis here. I only played three tournaments this year, so of course, you know, it’s normal to expect that you have some seasons where you don’t start well, and this is the one. Hopefully, yeah, I can pick up, in terms of results, I can build from here, because, you know, I played some good tennis. Hopefully in the next tournaments I’ll be able to play even better.”
The Serb still enjoyed his best Monte-Carlo Masters result in nine years by reaching the semi-final. Assessing his performance against Ruud, he added: “Well, of course I’m disappointed, you know, to lose a match like this. Was close one.
“Congratulations to Casper. He played really good, especially in the beginning of the first and third, as well. I had my chances, but yeah, last game was not great. Unforced errors and just he was solid I think until the last shot and deserved to win.
“My game was kind of up and down. I mean, the positive thing is that I kind of managed to come back after losing the first set and really find the strength in the game. So there are positives to take away from this tournament, for sure, but of course disappointed with the loss.”
And Djokovic gave a short and snappy answer to his third and final question in the press conference when he was quizzed over a spectator supposedly booing him in the final game. “I don’t know. No, I was not. I didn’t even see what’s happening,” he said before making an exit.
