Novak Djokovic of Serbia looks at the ball after slipping as he plays Andy Murray of Britain during the Men’s singles final match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Sunday, July 7, 2013.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
LONDON – Novak Djokovic insists he will absorb the lessons of his painful Wimbledon final defeat against Andy Murray and come back stronger than ever.
Djokovic slumped to a lacklustre 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 defeat at the All England Club on Sunday as the world number one failed to recapture the dominant form that saw him sweep through to the final.
The 26-year-old has lost on the big occasion before— this was his fifth Grand Slam final defeat— but it was the way he allowed Murray to dictate the tempo that was so surprising.
Djokovic claimed his first straight sets defeat in a Grand Slam since losing to Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon in 2010 was at least partly down to fatigue from his four hour and 43 minute semi-final victory over Juan Martin del Potro just 48 hours earlier.
But the Serb knew he could have no complaints about the result after making 40 unforced errors and he vowed to study the performance again in a bid to clean up his game in time for the US Open in August.
“I try to always analyse, especially the losses, because that’s where you have done something wrong,” Djokovic said.
“It’s my life. You try to improve. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, I guess. I need to have that kind of mentality and move on.
“I’m still young and hopefully I have more opportunities to win this title.”
Even without the aches and pains from the del Potro clash, Djokovic acknowledged it might still have been hard for him to stop a fired-up Murray from taking the title.
With the painful memories of last year’s Wimbledon final loss to Roger Federer still fresh in his mind, Murray was on a mission to make amends and he played with a steely-eyed determination that Djokovic found impossible to match.
“I knew I had to be on top of my game in order to prevail in this match. He had a huge motivation to win his first title,” Djokovic said.
“I wasn’t patient enough in the moments when I should have been, when I should have looked for the better opportunity to attack, and my serve wasn’t as good as it was the whole tournament.”
“Every time it’s tough when you’re losing in the final. But hey, it’s sport. It’s the way it is.”
After winning the Australian Open title in January, six-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has now endured two successive heart-breaking defeats at the majors.
He made a maiden French Open title his top priority this year and came within a whisker of defeating Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals before losing to the eventual champion in five sets last month.
Following Sunday’s failure, he would have every reason to feel sorry for himself on the flight back to Monte Carlo, yet the 2011 Wimbledon champion said he took great pride in his second appearance in the final.
“I got to the final of Wimbledon, so I cannot be too disappointed with my overall performance,” Djokovic said.
“It was a great tournament for me. I could have done better in the final but that’s sport. You cannot win all the matches.”
With Federer and Nadal both looking vulnerable at present, this is unlikely to be Djokovic’s last high-stakes clash with Murray.
But Djokovic refused the opportunity to declare his desire for revenge in New York, instead admitting his only plan for now is to take time off to rest his aching body.
“I’m going to try to take some time off, because that’s exactly what I need now,” he added.
“I’m just going to rest now. I really cannot think about anything else now.”