He made strenuous resistance, great reactivity, fighting attitude his main qualities. Able to win by exchanging dozens of shots, without ever giving up. This is why it was very strange to see Novak Djokovic give up like this in the third set of the final of the home tournament in Belgrade, losing 6-0 to the Russian Rublev. Unusual result, as well as unusual are the scenes of the number 1 in the world who repeatedly uses cold towels during the changes of the field.

And Nole, who has not yet won a tournament this year also because - not being vaccinated - he was excluded from the Australians and Americans, speaks of a mysterious "disease" that has struck him recently.

"Unfortunately in the third set I completely lacked the energy, I didn't have the strength to fight and in those conditions it was impossible to oppose a player among the strongest in the world," he said. "The match was long and at that moment I started to feel bad."

Also in Monte Carlo Nole had crashed in the third set against the Spaniard Davidovich Fokina, 6-3, 6-7, 6-1. "I felt the same sensations as then," he said.

Then the malaise: “ I think everything is linked to an illness I recently had . I had to undergo medical treatment but I am still not in place and the sensations are not worrying ”.

There are those who hypothesize a flu or an intestinal virus, but a long Covid that could have debilitated the sample is also not excluded. He cuts short: “ Covid has nothing to do with it , it's something else and I don't want to go into details, but it has affected my body and my metabolism. It was a tough disease both physically and mentally, also because I have always been used to being well ”.

The next appointments for the Serbian are in Madrid and Rome, before Roland Garros , the first Grand Slam tournament that he will be able to play in this 2022 after being excluded from the Australian Open.