Novak Djokovic says he may skip Wimbledon after shock French Open quarter-final defeat to unheralded Marco Cecchinato
The 12-time grand slam winner is humbled by world No 72 at Roland Garros, and admits he could miss grass court season as he looks to rebuild confidence
Novak Djokovic is facing the gravest crisis of his career after a shock French Open defeat to Italian journeyman Marco Cecchinato left him contemplating missing Wimbledon to rebuild his game and reboot his state of mind.
The 31-year-old Serb slumped to an epic 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 7-6 (13-11) quarter-final loss to world number 72 Cecchinato, a player who had never won a match at the majors before this year’s Roland Garros.
Djokovic, a former world number one and 12-time grand slam title winner, had previously only been beaten by a player ranked lower than 25-year-old Cecchinato at the majors on two occasions – Marat Safin at Wimbledon in 2008 when the maverick Russian was at 78 and 117th-ranked Denis Istomin at last year’s Australian Open.
Tuesday’s defeat left Djokovic shell-shocked, so much so that he threatened to skip the forthcoming grass court season and, by extension, Wimbledon where he is a three-time champion.
“I don’t know if I’m going to play on grass – I’m just not thinking about tennis at the moment,” said Djokovic who opted to conduct his post-match media duties in a minor conference room, which had already been shut up for the evening, far away from the waiting cameras.