The American tennis legend Andy Roddick said he was deeply affected by Novak Djokovic's words after losing to Jannik Sinner in the final at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
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After his defeat at the ATP Masters 1000 in China, Nole was asked about his 2024 season, which has been significantly below his very high standards of recent years. And the Serbian tennis player, speaking about his 2024, called it his worst year in a while, reiterating that it had to happen sooner or later, and that he is still happy with his gold medal in Paris.
After the words that the 24-time Serbian Grand Slam champion had said on that occasion in the press conference, Roddick joked about these words.
"Djokovic talked about his worst year when he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, then the final of Wimbledon, won Olympic gold at Paris 2024 and reached the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters last week. Worst year? It would be the best year of most of our careers. He is no longer 30 and there are two monsters in front of him," he said.
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During the on-court interview on the sidelines of the Shanghai final, Nole said: "Hello everyone. I want to say thank you for the support you gave me during the week. There were always a lot of you at the exit of the hotel and it's always a pleasure to play here. I've had a lot of success in China in my career and I'm happy to be back. I want to congratulate Sinner. You were too good for me today, Jannik. You deserved to win this title.
I also want to congratulate Sinner's team, I know a couple of guys! I also want to say hello to Roger Federer, it's nice to see you here. I'm not used to seeing you in the stands. It's the first time I've played a match with you in the stands and not on the court. Thank you for coming. Also thank Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero for being part of this match. I was under a bit of pressure. I also want to say thank you to my team, who did a lot this week. Thanks to the organizers, because this tournament always makes us feel special."
