Novak Djokovic spoke about past criticisms of his attitude fuelling his on-court form as he advanced to the second week of the Australian Open.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion cruised into the second week in Melbourne with a 6-3 6-3 7-6(2) victory over Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
After losing a set in his last two matches, Djokovic was dominant over the Argentinian as he will now face Adrian Mannarino on Sunday.
Speaking in his post-match press conference Djokovic admitted he is not back to his best yet and detailed how he regains his focus, “No, but I played better than I did in the first two rounds, so that’s a positive change, I guess,” Djokovic explained.
“Starting to feel better game-wise and physically, as well. It’s positive signs. I still haven’t been playing at my best. Well, it’s not always a positive pep talk. There’s a lot of trash talk happening inside of my head. I guess it’s part of the game. It’s part of who I am. I mean, I’m quite certain that everyone goes through their crisis moments, particularly in the matches where they don’t feel their best and they have doubts.
“The question is how you overcome those doubts and focus on being in the present and trying to get the most out of yourself for the next point. I do have extrovert kind of personality. I show my emotions – not always – but it does happen. When I show the bad side of my emotions, it’s ugly and it’s not something I enjoy. It is what it is. I’m trying to fight the demons that I have, as anybody else, on the court.
“Sometimes it works better. Sometimes not so great. You just have to accept the circumstances, depending on how you feel against certain opponent on the given day. Sometimes you just wake up not feeling great, and you start to doubt that you can win a match or play well. Those are some of the things you have to deal with mentally during the match.”
It’s quite obvious during matches that Djokovic has a personality which he displays through good and bad as he aims for more history in Melbourne.
Speaking of strong personalities Djokovic was asked about criticisms of his personality when he was younger and how he dealt that.
The Serb recalled Federer not being happy with his personality but said he used it to fuel his form which he still does to this day, “I mean, I know certainly Federer didn’t like the way I was behaving at the beginning. I think it didn’t sit with him well. I don’t know about the others,” Djokovic recalled.
“I guess I wasn’t the favorite type of guy to some of the top guys because I was not afraid to say that I want to be the best player in the world. I was kind of – not kind of – I was confident, and I felt like I have the game to back it up.
“It was fueling me even more. I mean, if I made a mistake, I would admit it and, of course, say I make a mistake, I raise my hand, I apologize or whatever. But if the criticism came with no particular reason I think, then I would just keep going the kind of direction that I chose, and that’s it.
“I knew and I know today that you can’t have everyone liking you, who you are, how you play, how you behave, what you talk about. It’s normal. We’re all different. We are all different preferences.”
Speaking of different preferences and personality that leads onto the next generation with the likes of Ben Shelton.
Djokovic said he’s all for the younger players expressing how they feel but he thinks sometimes it borders on being annoying, “As far as Shelton’s level of confidence and coming out, I don’t mind that actually at all. I think it’s great. You got to believe. I’m all for that,” Djokovic stated.
“I support 100% a young player coming out on the court, like Prizmic did the other night against me, and Shelton is doing coming out believing in his capabilities that he can challenge the best players in the world. I don’t dislike that at all. But there is obviously some kind of line, non-visible line, of acceptable behavior I guess towards the other player.
“If a player steps over that line, then obviously it starts being annoying. That’s when you react or you don’t react, whatever. It just depends. But I’m all for young players showing confidence and speaking, always with respect, towards the older guys who are on the tour, but being confident in themselves and their tennis.”
