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| Novak Djokovic |
Novak Djokovic said his Wimbledon final defeat by Andy Murray was partly
down to feeling exhausted after his grueling semi-final victory.
Top seed Djokovic took four hours and
43 minutes to defeat Juan Martin
del Potro in five sets on Friday.
And he looked weary at times against
Murray on a sweltering Centre Court, eventually losing 6-4 7-5 6-4.
"I cannot look for excuses but the
previous match took a lot out of me," said Djokovic, champion in 2011.
"I've been in these situations
before. I felt OK but maybe physically I didn't have enough gas in the
important moments.
"It was a very long match for
three sets today. But the bottom line is that he was a better player in the
decisive moments."
Djokovic, a six-time Grand Slam
champion, was in sublime form en route to the final, with only Del Potro
stretching him.
But the Serb hit 40 unforced errors
during his first straight-sets defeat in a Grand Slam tournament since a loss
to Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon in 2010.
"In both second and third sets I
was 4-2 up and dropped the serve in those games and allowed him to come back
for no reason," said Djokovic.
"I should have played better in
the decisive moments. I wasn't patient enough.
"I believed I could come back, but
I didn't play on the top of my abilities and with this kind of game I didn't
have a chance to win.
"He was getting some incredible
shots on the stretch and running down the drop-shots. He played fantastic
tennis, he deserved to win."
Djokovic, 26, was booed for questioning
line calls and ranting at umpire Mohamed Lahyani following one decision.
But he refused to criticize the crowd
and said he had expected them to be against him.
"The atmosphere was incredible for
him," he said. "For me, not so much. But that's what I expected and
that's how it was.
"It must mean a lot to everybody.
Wimbledon is the most important tennis tournament in the world. Especially for
him as a British player, and the crowd."
Culled from BBC Sport
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