Dehydration almost cost Novak Djokovic his eighth Australian Open title in Melbourne on Sunday.
He firmly believes he was “on the brink of losing” when he was visited by a doctor midway through the game. The doctor felt he was showing all the signs of dehydration and gave him a medical timeout for treatment.
The Serbian tennis legend eventually went on to win his 17th Grand Slam and a record 8th Australian Open men singles title. He also reclaimed his World No 1 ranking in this tense, five-set thriller
But this was not before he badly lost the second and third sets to Austrian power hitter Dominic Theim. Worst still, he was showing signs of being overwhelmed by his 26-yeaar-old aggressor as he struggled to match his power and energy.
Djokovic, 32, could feel it something to do with his health, but to hear more about it, let’s listen to his post-match explanation.
“Turbulent, I would say,” was the description he gave of the match.
“I started really well”
“It started off really well. I broke his serve right away. I felt the experience on my side having played many Australian Open finals; for him it was his first. It was very important for me to break his serve early in the match – and it happened.
“After I lost the second set, I started to feel really bad on the court. My energy levels dropped significantly.
“To be honest, I still don’t understand the reason why it happened because I’d been doing the things that I always do before my matches. I was hydrated well and everything. Apparently the doctor said I wasn’t hydrated enough.
“I was on the brink of losing the match. Dominic is a fantastic tennis player. He plays with a tremendous amount of power in his shots, especially from the forehand side. He uses his slice really well. He disrupted my rhythm in my game at one point and was the better player.
Djokovic used all of his Grand Slam experience to stay cool and cool and calculating and as he regained his momentum, Theim became notably tense and lost his dominance
“Only one shot and one point separated us”
“In the end, Djokovic admitted, “Probably only one point and one shot separated us. It could so easily have gone a different way.
“I served and volleyed when I was facing a break point in the fourth and in the fifth. It was risky, but it worked both of the times.
“It could have also been different. Serve and volley is not something I’m accustomed to. I’m not really doing that that often. I kind of recognised that as an important tactic in those circumstances, and I’m really happy it worked.”
Leading 2-1 in sets, Thiem squandered a vital break point early in the fourth while Djokovic was still regained his energy and competitive edge.
Djokovic said he was battling at the end of the third set and that his struggles had come as a big surprise to him.
“I was a bit shocked I did not feel good”
“I definitely did not feel good. I didn’t know what the next moment would bring. I was trying to keep myself alive mentally as well and emotionally because it was disappointing in a way from my side to actually feel this way,” he said.
“I was a bit shocked that I did feel that way because everything was fine before the match. For the first two sets, everything was okay.
“But it’s something that you have to accept that you’re going through, those kinds of circumstances really kind of force me to let things go and to really try to be in the moment and fight my way back.”
Djokovic was visited by the trainer during the third set on Sunday before responding to win 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 after almost four hours on Rod Laver Arena.
The Serbian great moved onto 17 grand slam titles, extending his record to eight at the Australian Open while reclaiming the world number one ranking.
But the 32-year-old said he was close to defeat as he struggled with his health during the final.
“Turbulent, I would say,” he said, describing his win.
“It started off really well. I broke his serve right away. I felt the experience on my side playing many Australian Open finals, for him it was his first. It was very important for me to break his serve early in the match, which happened.
“After I lost the second set, I started to feel really bad on the court. My energy dropped significantly.
“To be honest, I don’t still understand the reason why that has happened because I’ve been doing the things that I’ve been doing before all of my matches. I was hydrated well and everything. Apparently the doctor said I wasn’t hydrated enough.
“I was on the brink of losing the match. Dominic is a fantastic tennis player that plays with tremendous amount of power in his shots, especially from the forehand side. He uses his slice really well. He disrupted my rhythm in my game at one point. He was a better player. Probably one point and one shot separated us. It could have gone a different way.
“I served and volleyed when I was facing a break point in the fourth and in the fifth. It worked both of the times.
“It could have also been different. Serve and volley is not something I’m accustomed to. I’m not really doing that that often. I kind of recognised that as an important tactic in those circumstances, and I’m really happy it worked.”
Leading 2-1 in sets, Thiem squandered a break point early in the fourth set before Djokovic regained his energy.
Djokovic said he was battling at the end of the third set and his struggles had come as a surprise.
“I definitely did not feel good. I didn’t know what the next moment brings. I was trying to keep myself alive mentally as well and emotionally because it was disappointing in a way from my side to actually feel this way,” he said.
“I was a bit shocked that I did feel that way because everything was fine before the match. For the first two sets, everything was okay.
“But it’s something that you have to accept that you’re going through, those kinds of circumstances really kind of force me to let things go and to really try to be in the moment and fight my way back.”