Current Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic wants to talk to Andy Murray in friendly terms to clear the air of controversy surrounding his romp to his fifth title in Melbourne Park on February 1 en route also to his eighth Grand Slam title in his career.
Djokovic beat Murray in four sets during the men’s singles finals 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0. After the awarding, Murray talked to the press and said that he felt that Djokovic feigned or fake his supposed injury that distracted the Scot all throughout the game.
The Serbian was seemingly having physical difficulty at the start of both the second and third sets of the final as he stumbled and struggled to chase down shots, points out The Independent.
On both sets, Murray took the lead only for Djokovic to somehow gain strength and rediscover his touch like a switch has been suddenly turned on. That got Murray distracted by Djokovic’s physical issues and was quite surprised with the speed of Djokovic’s recovery. The Scot made his opinion during the post-game interviews.
The World No. 1 however does not feel ill will against the statements of Murray, citing that it was just said out of frustration because losing really hurts, especially in the finals of a Grand Slam tournament.
Personal and friendly talk
Djokovic is looking to have a personal and friendly talk with Andy Murray soon not because he wanted him to recant or retract his statements made to the press but just to appease him and think of it as just a game.
He believes that the persons or the athletes are actually bigger than the game itself so it is important that they thresh things out and move on to the next because that is what their tennis lives is all about.
Djokovic also said that he considers the top players of the game like Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as his close friends because he sees them more than his parents, and even his wife too.
The World No. 1 says that perhaps it is still not the right time yet to talk about it because it is still fresh but with more time to pass, he is positive that Andy Murray will come to his senses and move on the way professional tennis players do all the time. He believes that more than anything else, Murray was just disappointed about losing the match and his physical difficulty during the game has nothing to do with it at all.
Nothing to hide
Djokovic says that if an opportunity presented itself to him and Murray to talk, he will definitely take the chance to talk to his friend, saying that he has nothing to hide.
He also said that he is not the type of person who talks behind people’s backs especially for someone he has known for a long time. Djokovic said the he respects Murray a lot. He said that he will not allow the bad blood surrounding his fifth title at the Australian Open to change his good professional relationship with Andy Murray.
Murray has yet to make any pronouncement on the latest call of Djokovic for a possible talk and move on from there.