AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 23, 2023

Novak Djokovic

Press Conference

N. DJOKOVIC/A. De Minaur

6-2, 6-1, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Well done, Novak. Alex said just now that he thought you were very close to your best tennis ever. Do you agree with that assessment?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I don't know ever, but definitely best tennis I've played this year, this tournament, so far this season. Best match. I'm really glad because obviously as the tournament progresses, the matches are going to get tougher. I'm really glad to manage to win the way I did tonight.

To feel really great in terms of mobility and movement of my leg, which is great news. So all in all, perfect match for me tonight.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you give us insight on how you're managing the leg in this tournament? How many more gears do you think you have left?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: We take it day by day. We do a lot of things actually. It's been honestly exhausting to be involved in a lot of different treatments and machines and stuff that we do.

At the same time it was necessary. It is necessary in order to get myself in a condition to play. So I'm really glad that my body has responded really well.

Tonight I didn't feel any pain. I moved as well as I have the whole tournament. It means we are progressing in the right direction.

Q. Did the treatments ramp up after your match against Grigor Dimitrov? You seemed to have less mobility that night.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's just the response of the body. Some days you feel good; some days maybe not as. So, as I said on the court, I do not want to celebrate too early 'cause I don't know how the body's going to respond tomorrow and for the next match.

What I felt tonight is fantastic.

Q. If I told you six days ago that you were going to have this night in less than a week, given how you were feeling back then, what would you have said?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I'll take it (smiling). I'll take it, definitely. I mean, at that point it wasn't looking at all like that's going to happen, to be honest with you.

But it did, so I'm grateful. But as I said, having a little bit of experience throughout my career with these kind of particular circumstances, I know that my body responds pretty well. At the same time there were situations where it was responding great a certain day, and then the next day not so well.

Yeah, we'll take it day by day. I'll keep doing what I have done so far, which is what helped me to get to this condition. Hopefully it can still keep improving.

Q. I'm sure you're not going to take anything for granted, but can you give us an idea of how your mindset about your title ambitions here might have changed in this period as your leg now is feeling better, and that's one less concern you might have? I'm also wondering, given all of your accomplishments, the rest of the field, nobody's ever won a Grand Slam title, how much of an advantage is that for you?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, as I've answered to your colleague in the previous question, a week ago I didn't really think about the title, I just thought about being in a good enough condition to play the next match until tonight. Tonight, the way I played, the way I felt, gives me reason now to believe that I can go all the way.

I mean, I always believe I can go all the way in terms of my tennis. But the way my leg felt before tonight wasn't giving me too many hopes, so to say, for the entire tournament, to go all the way through.

Tonight I feel that, so I feel positive about it.

Being the only guy remaining in the tournament that has won a Grand Slam, of course flatters me but I don't think it's going to make too big of a difference, to be honest. Maybe it will to some extent, I mean, for me, but maybe not for the other guys. I don't know.

I know Tsitsipas, for example, probably the most experienced guy out of all of them, all the quarterfinalists. He has played already the final stages of a Grand Slam quite a few times. I think he has never played a finals, am I wrong?

Q. You beat him in Roland Garros. Paris, it was a good match, you came back.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: That's right. That's right. Sorry, my bad (smiling).

What I wanted to say is I wanted to compliment him because he's someone that looks ready to go for the title, and the way he has been playing, he's been coming closer and closer.

But you have the other guys, some young American guys, that are doing extremely well at this tournament. Anything is possible, I think. We'll just have to take it day by day.

I've been in this situation so many times before, as you mentioned. I think from that point of view I think it helps me have kind of a more, let's say, clear approach to the remaining days of the tournament and what I need to do.

Of course, I'll keep an eye on all the other matches, see how the other guys are doing. We'll see what happens.

Q. On the hamstring, can you explain to us how it has restricted you in previous matches and how you potentially changed your game because of that?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, certain movement was affected, particularly the extreme movements on the court, change of directions and so forth. Maybe people who were watching me play don't maybe get that idea. For me as a player, being on the court, I can feel the difference definitely.

I guess you have to accept and deal with the fact that you have a certain amount of the pain, which is not an issue for me. The biggest issue was the unpredictability of what the next quick move can cause. That's what was my biggest concern because that's how I got injured actually before the tournament started.

So those quick change of directions and movements have been in the first couple of matches tough for me. But tonight, no problem at all.

Q. Have you had to change your game at all?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I think looking at the performance tonight, the game is greatly affected when I have less worry about what's happening with the leg, when I don't need to think about, calculate whether I'm going to go for a certain ball or not. When I'm free in my mind, I mean, this is what happens on the court like tonight.