Novak Djokovic explained how he felt physically during his match with Karen Kachanov at the Paris Masters, which the Serbian won in straight sets
Novak Djokovic has opened up on how he has felt physically at the Paris Masters. The Serbian, aiming for a third title in a row, admitted he was ‘not feeling his best’ and ‘sweating a lot’ during his victory over Karen Karen Khachanov on Thursday, despite cruising to the win.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion dispatched the Russian 6-4, 6-1, but all wasn’t what it seemed as the Serbian took off his shirt and tried to cool himself down during a changeover. When asked if he needed to find his rhythm on court despite how he was feeling, Djokovic, 34, answered: “No, I didn’t need to find the rhythm. The rhythm was there.
“I was 3-0 up but I was not feeling my best physically in the first set for some reason. Kind of sweating a lot, and just, I don’t know, just happens, you know, sometimes. You have to go through it and find a way, which is what happened. You know, I managed to hold my service games and put pressure on his service games.
“I was more or less in every service game of his, 0-30, breakpoints, played a very good, I think, couple of points at that 10th game of the first set. Broke his resistance. Then the second set was different. Different feeling. I felt better. Served better. Then of course life is easy on the court when you’re feeling better.”
