indeed.
it's pathetic really.
Biles was a great past Olympian but why not quit before going to Japan give a spot on the US team to someone who actually wanted to be there to compete
Making the headlines for quitting events at the games instead of before is baffling but symptomatic of the modern victim culture which should be seen as distinct from the important issue of mental health
The fact that each event was overshadowed by whether or not Biles was going to quit out on it (and her team in the team events) and made bigger headlines that who won it is sad
Djokovic is physically exhausted due to the high humidity and heat of the outdoor conditions at the tennis and has been out there for 3 hours nearly that day already (and 7 matches in the last week which is not normal to do even in benign conditions) but should not quit - should go out there and risk more injury and exhaustion. certainly more likely to aggravate an injury when already totally drained.
yes it's a bit unfortunate for the partner but he at least gave her the experience of playing together there for the previous matches
And don't tell me that people don't see the context of a bronze mixed double match considering that the mixed doubles at the slams is just a sideshow with paltry prize-money that the vast majority of even tennis fans don't bother watching and mightn't even know who won, never mind who got to a semi-final (bronze medal equivalent)
He simply wasn't in shape to continue
he'd played 7 tennis matches in the 7 days in stifling humidity and heat (very nasty combo)
one female tennis player was carted off the court with heatstroke
they moved the times of the matches after that but it was still very oppressive
he was obviously exhausted and with some injuries by the end of the Zverev match
and even more so by the end of the singles bronze play-off
he'd played that match earlier that day that lasted just short of 3 hours in those conditions
the guy is going for the history of the calendar slam and the injuries already incurred could impact his effort at New York
why should he go out and risk further injury after a tough match earlier in the day?
the comments of the posters here like yerwanthere123 who freely post to wanting Djokovic to lose every time he goes out and don't want to see him do the calendar slam that he should go out again the same day injured and exhausted would be typical of the type to admonish Djokovic here
But it is strange the way Biles is seen as a hero for getting into a strop and quitting on her team - why ?
Williams gets the same at Wimbledon, to hear the commentators owwing and ahhing and fawning over Williams as she fell in her 1st round match at Wimbledon.
She simply shouldn't have been playing at Wimbledon - she was unfit and frankly overweight.
Then you see the BBC gleefull headline "ANGRY DJOKOVIC LEAVES TOKYO WITH NO MEDAL" - can you imagine the same over Biles ?
"BILES GETS INTO A STROP AND QUITS TEAM"
outrage, journalists careers over.
Mixed feelings on Novak regarding the olympics. I think his withdrawal was so unfair on his partner who a bronze medal would have been a career highlight.
I do have sympathy for the Biles drama which was just mischief makers looking for rage clicks and retweets and sadly will follow him for the rest of his career despite been bullshit.
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1421811132696834048
I take your point about winning another medal, but, even the Serbian tennis coach was surprised he entered the mixed doubles. It's not as if he plays doubles much so even getting a medal there was an outside shot, Barty and Peers would have been expected to win the bronze medal match as both are much more experienced doubles players. All it did was jeopardize his own singles hopes. A very strange decision, which ultimately cost him.
To try and answer the "why did Djokovic play in the mixed doubles?" question which pops up fairly often.
It's accepted over here that he genuinely wanted to try to win an(other) Olympic medal for Serbia.
While success in the doubles wouldn't have added much to his 2021 achievement list, it was going to increase the risk to his own singles title in Japan.
Serbs appreciated that risk he was prepared to take.
Serbia, like Ireland, usually get a fairly modest medal haul from the Olympics and every medal counts.
Also, Schmiedlova won the Belgrade Ladies Open in the end.
I suppose it makes sense given the lack of rest time between matches.
Have to say that tennis at the Olympics leaves me somewhat unmoved, and I would prefer if is wasn't there (likewise golf, soccer, and basically any sport which has its pinnacles firmly located elsewhere).
Oh, the men's final wasn't best of 5. Didn't hear about that being abolished.
Zverev is real handful when he can keep it together, and he was really solid all week. He seems to have too much time to balls it up in a BO5 setting, maybe that will come with time.
On the Djokovic stuff, not sure when was the last time he lost two matches in a row (a previous Olympics maybe ?) it will knock some of the stuffing out of him but really, its better from his point of view to have his 'blowout' at this than in the US open. I do feel bad for his doubles partner.
He put a lot of stock in trying to win a gold for Serbia, but, really, I would surmise that most Serbs are more than happy with his accomplishments with or without an Olympic medal.
Nadal meanwhile is sitting in Washington sharpening his blade.....
Zverev wins the Gold, he's already won the ATP finals and made a slam final, so next step is to win a slam.
could have gotten confused like obviously did with Djokovic's "pressure is a privilege" comment in answer to the question put to Djokovic about the possibility of a golden slam and the pressure on him.
Under normal circumstances Djokovic wouldn't lose to PCB, also wouldn't collapse as he did against Zverev, so there obviously was something wrong, exhaustion or an injury or a combination of both, so no surprise he pulled out of the mixed doubles. Why he played in the mixed doubles in the first place is a mystery, especially when he was going for something unique in the golden slam. The frustration he showed yesterday by throwing away the racket and breaking another might indicate that whatever injury he has might be worse than anyone thinks and could hinder his pursuit of the calendar slam. His on court behaviour yesterday really was unacceptable, but, all players do this from time to time.
Some posters were predictably over the top as usual, but I think a lot of what was said was fair. What in particular did you take issue with?
Djokovic was asked a question about the golden slam and the pressure on him. That was the main thrust of the question.
=======
“Pressure is a privilege,” Djokovic said when asked about the attention on him at the Games. “Without pressure there is no professional sport. If you are aiming to be at the top of the game you better start learning how to deal with pressure"
It should be noted that Djokovic had come up with the 'pressure is a privilege' remark when World No.1 was quizzed about the Golden Slam.
https://www.timesnownews.com/sports/tokyo-olympics/article/netizens-recall-novak-djokovics-remarks-on-mental-health-and-simone-biles-as-temper-flares-up-at-olympics/792993
=====
It wasn't a question about Biles or Osaka directly
Like wtf
Go look it up.
If people want to say that it was a comment on Biles or Osaka - it was a comment on himself
Trying to create a story where there is none really - it's pathetic
Djokovic looks wrecked and says he's got multiple injuries
What the fook do you know about it - you don't have a clue.
The guy is still going for the history of a calendar slam - is wrecked and injured
has already played a match today in the heat and humidity that was near 3 hours
but he should go out and play a mixed doubles match anyway to jeopardise that and possibly get injured further - why should he exactly?
the people here saying that want him to lose and don't want him to achieve the golden slam or the calendar slam.
He has played 7 tennis matches in the last week already in very oppressive conditions
One woman had to be carted off with heatstroke earlier in the week
Edgelords, seriously 🤣
Federer didn't have a pop at properly brilliant Olympians mental strength
Neither did Djokovic .
He was asked a question, how he deals with the pressure of attempting to accomplish something that no man has done before in tennis: completing a Golden Slam.
He answered it honestly.
“Pressure is a privilege, my friend,” .
“Without pressure there is no professional sport,”
“If you are aiming to be at the top of the game you better start learning how to deal with pressure and how to cope with those moments — on the court but also off the court."
“All that buzz and all that noise is the thing that, I can’t say I don’t see it or I don’t hear it, of course it’s there, but I’ve learned, I’ve developed the mechanism how to deal with it in such a way that it will not impose destruction to me. It will not wear me down,” Djokovic said. "I feel I have enough experience to know myself how to step on the court and play my best tennis.”
“Of course. It’s normal,” Djokovic said. “No one is born with those abilities. Those abilities come with time.”
Some people just dont like to hear the truth or tell the truth though.
Nole's behavior today was disgraceful
Everyone has a bad day at the office, its good to leave off a bit of steam every now and again.
it is a bit of laugh tho really
Djokovic says that he's injured and physically exhausted (and looks it) and he plays one match anyways but can't do the second in the same day after that (albeit a bronze medal match with a partner in the always ignored in any normal tournament mixed doubles) and he's again the devil incarnate
Federer pulls out of a Grand Slam after 3 or 4 rounds with no injury whatsoever and it's smart stuff!
What match was on first?
The singles.
If he had dropped out of that he'd be criticised for doing that. And you very well know that.
You don't have the faintest bog of a clue of what the extent of his injuries and level of exhaustion / wreckedness was before or after that singles match.
Djokovic is saying he's injured and exhausted physically - he's not pulling the " 'cos mental health" card so not sure why you see such irony as it doesn't really make sense.
think that he really underestimated the conditions.
in retrospect not a good decision
that combo of very high humidity and high temperatures is awful to play sport in - much harder than high heat alone
impossible to say how much the extra matches from the mixed doubles exacerbated or caused the injuries that he has.
certainly affected his recovery and definitely was not good for exhaustion
as if players don't occasionally smash a racquet - what a laugh
here's 10 minutes of Federer smashing up racquets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCTpZpJc1j0&t=115s
Bad form - agreed but part of a pattern with Djokovic this past while. Did you see him flinging & whacking his racquet. It's like as if he thinks he has some divine right to come out on the right side all the time. Used to admire him, but his on court ego and alpha male carry on has put me off for a while now.
Given the conditions I think it was a crazy decision from Djokovic to play the mixed doubles, it's not as if he's a regular doubles player anyway; outside of Davis Cup he's hardly played doubles so not sure what he was thinking, apparently even the Serbian team were surprised he entered the mixed doubles. It was always a stretch for him to win a medal in mixed doubles given that most of the other teams had specialised doubles players playing. He obviously underestimated the challenge and comes away from the Olympics empty handed and with injuries which might cost him the calendar slam.
If you agree to play in the singkes, do you have to okay the doubles? If not he should never have said yes, or been asked. He was never going to go all the way in the mixed doubles and was a guarantee to give up at some point.
The comments about Osaka are valid and legitimate , Biles is also fair game.
Comparing Murray to Djokovic here at the Olympics is really a bit silly and doesn't bear comparison.
Murray, with all due respect to his past, is finished as a top-level singles player. He had zero chance of getting to the medal rounds in the singles.
He dropped out of the singles early whereas Djokovic was still involved in a singles medal match today.
There is no comparison here really. Murray dropping out of the singles to focus on the doubles was merely pragmatic and indeed only happened when the doubles had surprisingly resulted in a win over the second seeds in the doubles in the first round. So it was with a view to getting a doubles medal purely.
Also Djokovic only dropped out of the mixed doubles after the singles game.
The singles game was on first and so he played it.
“I am dealing with injuries. Not one, more than one."
Why is so impossible for it to be the case that he aggravated one of those injuries further in the singles game?
Hardly a stretch ffs
Those who want to view it in some conspiracy theory way will do so but it's a totally logical sequence of events.
“I apologise to all the fans in Serbia who I have disappointed. I know everyone expected a medal, I did too. I feel bad for Nina because we did not fight for a medal in mixed, but my body said ’enough’: I have played under medications and abnormal pain and exhaustion. But again, my heart is in the right place, because I know that I gave my all. I love to play for my country. Unfortunately, I did not get the result I wanted, but that is sport, we move on,” he said.
Biles wasn't discussed in this thread at all really.
What Osaka has got to do with Djokovic I don't really know - mere irrelevant whatabouterry and it's a whole different subject on its own.
Fair few temper tantrums from Novak in that match.
He flung his racket into the crowd after one point and mangled his racket off the net support after another.
Novak has been in grind mode for the last few years, and in best of 3 if a player goes balls out, he struggles .
He is relying more on his opponent making errors than hitting winners himself.
The heat and humidity in Tokyo was very high, it was 31 degrees at 9am this morning local time.
Delighted for Bencic! Yes the Olympics is not the pinnacle of this sport, but a gold medal is a gold medal and Bencic will forever be a part of history because of it. Would love to see her do the double tomorrow also.
Ooh I dunno, I feel Djokovic would've mustered the strength to continue had he won his singles match today. It's just very harsh on Stojanovic, an unheralded player with a huge chance.
Also I don't think your jabs at Nadal or Federer are very fair. Nadal is playing a reduced schedule and has nothing left to prove at the Olympics. Federer is pushing 40 and on his last legs, no explanation needed.
Ignore list must really annoy trolls I'm guessing 😂😂😂
depends what state he arrives to the US Open and if he plays anything in the meantime
very unusual the way that he gave up a winning position - something went off on him - I think that the heat and humidity did certainly get to him - one place where being 34 is not an advantage for sure
he's not a machine as some seem to think - keeping up that level of performance that he showed this year for every match in every event is very very difficult to do - the body can get drained.
he's taking a fatalistic stance on things from what he said today
he gave it a good shot and it didn't work out
others weren't even bothered going
the bigger prize is still there to be tried for
===========>
"I do have a regret for not winning a medal for my country and opportunities missed both in mixed doubles and singles and, yeah, I just didn't deliver yesterday and today," Djokovic told reporters.
"The level of tennis dropped also due to exhaustion, you know, mentally and physically."
Players have struggled with the Tokyo heat and humidity throughout the tournament, requiring cold showers, ice packs and other cooling fans.
"But I don't regret coming to the Olympics at all," he said. "Of course not. I believe there is no coincidence in life, everything happens for a reason and I had some heartbreaking losses at the Olympic Games and some big tournaments in my career."
Djokovic, 34, pledged to give it one more shot at the Olympics in three years' time in Paris.
"I know that I will bounce back. I will try to keep going for the Paris Olympic Games. I will fight for my country to win medals. Sorry that I disappointed a lot of sports fans in my country, but that's sport."
The Serb can still win all four majors in a calendar year - only achieved in the men's game by Don Budge and Rod Laver (twice) - when he competes at the U.S. Open which starts on Aug. 30.
"The consequences physically hopefully will not create the problem for me for (the) U.S. Open. So that's something that I'm not sure about right now, but I'm not regretting for giving it my all because at the end of the day when you play for a country that's necessary."
"I know that those losses have usually made me stronger."
I'd still be surprised if he doesn't win the US Open, he has remarkable powers of recovery, but, missing out on the Olympics Gold will be a massive disappointment for him, it's the only major honour he hasn't won. He only has 1 opportunity left and the whole tennis landscape will have changed in 3 years time, he's unlikely to be as dominant next time as he is now.
Djokovic losing also gives a bit more hope to others at the USO, the aura of invincibility has been dented a little. It makes the USO more interesting; can Djokovic claim the calendar slam, can Nadal get to 21 first, can Thiem defend his title or can one of Tsitsipas, Zverev or Medvedev make the breakthrough.
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://w7.vanillicon.com/v2/75771797d68b15f0c5c6e631c7bb7ced.svg)
