Novak Djokovic on Tuesday mentioned that he regretted lacking Rafael Nadal’s farewell match and mentioned that the retirement ceremony “wasn’t accomplished correctly.”
The Djokovic-Nadal rivalry lasted 18 years between 2006 and 2024 with the Paris Olympics showdown between the 2 final yr marking a document sixtieth assembly. Whereas the Serbian completed forward on 31-29, he rued lacking the Spanish legend’s final moments on court docket throughout the Davis Cup.
Spain suffered a shock quarter-finals defeat towards the Netherlands, leaving everybody and the organizers stunned and quick on assets to facilitate a ceremony befitting of the 22-time Slam-winning Nadal’s stature within the sport.
“I don’t know the precise particulars as to how they envisioned the ceremony, however I do know that the plan was to do it after the semis, if Spain had been to undergo. Murray and I deliberate to be there, we couldn’t match the quarter-finals in our schedule, however we had been a certain factor for the semis.
“Sadly, it turned out the way in which it did, what are you gonna do? Greater than that, I don’t actually know,” mentioned Djokovic, instructed the Serbian press in Melbourne.
“I noticed the video (of the ceremony). I don’t know, I don’t know if Rafa perhaps didn’t wish to make an excessive amount of of a fuss about it so as to not hassle different groups, matches… I don’t know, to be trustworthy, however I really feel dangerous that I wasn’t there,” he added.
Djokovic mentioned he cherished the recollections of getting confronted Nadal in his closing yr on the tour. “We had been collectively on the court docket in Riyadh, that was the second, a pleasant second. I noticed him play at Roland-Garros, we performed one another on the Olympics… The ceremony, if you would like my opinion, wasn’t accomplished correctly. Possibly Rafa himself wasn’t certain whether or not he’ll play or not, if he can play some extra, after which perhaps it was too late to do one thing greater. I don’t know, actually, perhaps…”
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