Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic said on Wednesday that he tries to enjoy fun moments on the court, but there is so much stress and pressure on court that it makes it hard to have fun and the focus stays on just winning the match.
Djokovic on Tuesday night overcame USA's Taylor Fritz to reach the semifinal of the ongoing US Open at New York, making it his 47th appearance in a Grand Slam event semifinal.
"I am trying to enjoy the moments on the court, but there is so much stress and pressure going on that it's hard to have fun, so to say, on the court. It is really about finding a way to navigate through the match and win a tennis match for me," Djokovic said as quoted by ATP.
"But off the court, in terms of the actual journey of still being a professional tennis player and going around the world, travelling with my coaching team, we try to keep things light off the court and have fun and enjoy life, because at the end of the day, you have to find that optimal balance," he added.
The 36-year-old is chasing a record 24th Major title and advanced to the semifinal by defeating Fritz.
On the match, he said, "Today it was a great test, to see how it feels being on the court, quarter-finals against a top American. Taylor has been playing some great tennis this tournament, I thought. But I was very determined. I had clarity on what I needed to be doing on the court. Of course, in the heat of a moment, sometimes you want to use that energy to lift yourself up, and sometimes you just want to kind of cocoon yourself and really isolate the noise and focus on breathing and focus on staying present and focusing on the next point."
"So it is really adapting to whatever circumstances have for you and whatever is required in that moment for you," he added.
Djokovic said that he prefers sometimes to not pay attention to the crowd but on the other hand, sometimes likes to feed off fans' energy.
"I did not really want him to win the third set, because then I guess the crowd would really get into it even more and it would become more difficult task for me to handle," Djokovic said of Fritz's third-set comeback.
"It is normal, it is logical to expect that most of the crowd would support the home player," added Djokovic on the crowd's support for American Fritz.
The three-time US Open winner, who has not played an American in QFs of the tournament since beating Andy Roddick back in 2008, will play Ben Shelton in the semis, who is an American. (ANI)
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