Novak Djokovic bizarrely admits to ‘deliberately’ losing a game to Adrian Mannarino in the third set to avoid triple bagel scenario

Serbian tennis ace and defending champion at the 2024 Australian Open, Novak Djokovic, bizarrely claimed that he deliberately lost a game to Adrian Mannarino during his fourth-round match at the year’s first Grand Slam. 

As Djokovic was headed to register his first-ever triple bagel against Mannarino, the Serb deliberately lost a game to avoid it. 

Djokovic made these claims in the on-court interview after his win over Mannarino in three sets. As Djokovic was asked if this was his best performance in this year’s tournament so far, the 36-year-old agreed. He then talked about wanting to lose a game in the third set so that he could refocus and close the match.

The 24-time Grand Slam title champion said that the tension building in the stadium was affecting him, and hence he wanted to lose a game so that he could refocus. Djokovic did lose a game. He lost three games before closing out the match 6-0, 6-0, 6-3. 

I really wanted to lose that game in the 3rd set because the tension was building up so much in the stadium… I just needed to get that out of the way so that I could refocus on what I needed to do to close out the match.

Novak Djokovic said in his on-court interview.

Fans criticize Novak Djokovic for demeaning Adrian Mannarino

As soon as Novak Djokovic made this statement in his on-court interview, a discussion about how right was it started on social media.

While some found it funny, a large section of the tennis fans did not like this statement from Djokovic as they found it insulting to Adrian Mannarino. The tennis fans claimed that it was a statement out of arrogance and was unnecessary.

Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans have to say:

While the context of the statement stays with Novak Djokovic, it did not sit well with the fans, who found it demeaning to Mannarino. It is to be seen if Djokovic clarifies his statement or if it continues to hamper his image among the fans. 

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