Shanghai, October 7: Tennis great Novak Djokovic had to deal with a lot more than just problems on the court during his matches at the ATP Shanghai Masters 1000. The Serbian star had to deal with very hot and humid weather. He even threw up many times during his second-round match against Yannick Hanfmann on Sunday.
Even though he lost the first set 4-6 and seemed quite tired, the 24-time Grand Slam champion showed amazing strength by coming back to win 4-6, 7-5, and 6-3 to move on to the next round.
Djokovic Talks About the Hard Conditions
Djokovic said the circumstances were “brutal” in his post-match interview and that the heat really hurt his body.
“It’s the same for everyone on the court, but it’s hard.” “It’s hard when the humidity is over 80% every day, especially for the guys who play during the day when it’s hot. But when it’s sunny, it’s even harder,” Djokovic remarked, according to the Daily Mail.
“Biologically, it’s a little harder for me to deal with that. But I really had to get through the storm today.
The heat is hard for other players as well.
It wasn’t just Djokovic who was having a hard time. Other players also had trouble dealing with the bad weather in Shanghai.
Italian star Jannik Sinner, who won the last event, had to quit his match against Tallon Griekspoor in the third set because he was cramping up from the heat, according to talkSPORT.
Djokovic’s path to the quarterfinals
According to the ATP Tour website, the World No. 5 kept up his tough streak by beating Spain’s Jaume Munar in the Round of 16 on Tuesday, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. The match lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes, and Djokovic had to take a lot of breaks because his legs hurt.
At one point, the Serbian even fell on the court after losing the second set, but he got back up and won to move on to the quarterfinals against Belgium’s Zizou Bergs.
The 37-year-old’s perseverance in the face of fatigue once again showed that he is one of the best tennis players of all time.