“It’s incredible that he reached final,” Andy Roddick turns defendant from critic for Novak Djokovic after Serbian’s 2024 Wimbledon campaign

Djokovic was defeated in straight sets in the 2024 Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz.

“It’s incredible that he reached final,” Andy Roddick turns defendant from critic for Novak Djokovic after Serbian’s 2024 Wimbledon campaign

Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic (via Imago)

Former American tennis ace Andy Roddick has turned into Novak Djokovic‘s defendant as the Serbian faces the heat for losing the second consecutive final to Carlos Alcaraz at 2024 Wimbledon. While Roddick was taking sly digs at Djokovic for his videos and photos of recovery before the tournament started, the former World No. 1 has now come out defending and lauding Djoker for making it to the final.

Roddick heaped praise on Djokovic for going all the way to the final despite undergoing surgery on his right knee a few weeks ago. The American admitted that the 24-time Grand Slam champion had his share of struggles because he did not have enough practice coming into the grass Major.

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It's incredible that Novak got this far, to the Wimbledon final. He was coming back from an operation, so he was out of shape, not much tennis and no matches. And yet he gets to the Wimbledon final. He gave himself a chance on the court. Congratulations to him. Novak had no rehearsals, he was out of shape, all he was trying to do was get fit enough to play his first round and after that get fit enough to play the second round, and so on.
Andy Roddick said on ‘Served with Andy Roddick’

Notably, Djokovic had pulled out of the 2024 Roland Garros after sustaining an injury during his fourth-round match. The 37-year-old then underwent surgery and came back to directly play in the 2024 Wimbledon.

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Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic

Andy Roddick explains what led to Novak Djokovic’s embarrassing defeat to Carlos Alcaraz

After heaping praise on Novak Djokovic for making it through to the final despite all the challenges, Andy Roddick also analyzed what went wrong for the Serbian in the final where he looked clueless against a roaring Carlos Alcaraz. As Djokovic lost the final in straight sets, fingers were pointed to his limited movement on the court.

Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic
Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic (via Imago)

Experts claimed that Djokovic was not at his best when it came to returning and there was clear evidence for that. The Serbian was broken five times and only won one of the 21-year-old Alcaraz’s service games. While Djokovic vowed to take a learning, the questions persisted and now Roddick has come up with an explanation as to why it happened.

People saying, 'Oh, he didn't move well,' that's no joke. You have to practice to be good at something. Through no fault of his own, he didn't have those quick repetitions, and when you get to the top level of the game, those margins are exposed very quickly, and I think that's what happened.
Andy Roddick explained

Notably, it was only the fifth instance out of 37 Grand Slam finals that Djokovic lost in straight sets. The Serbian looked in a hurry to close the match as Djokovic was seen rushing to the baseline more often than he usually does. He also struggled with controlling his shots and, as Roddick said, all because of lack of practice.

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