Novak Djokovic on breaking two rackets "I'm not happy with that" - Turin 2023

It's huge. It means a lot, obviously. I knew that coming into the tournament here, I only need one win to clinch the year-end number one, and I really wanted that to happen already tonight. I didn't want to prolong the situation and complicate this particular goal. I'm really glad that I managed to do that tonight. There were a lot of difficult moments. It was very challenging to play Holger, who I thought was on a very high level tonight. He had a very clear game plan, and you could see that he was very sharp, very aggressive from the beginning, taking every chance he had to come to the net. He served very accurately, very precise, very strong. It was very difficult to find any, let's say, holes in his game tonight, so I really had to work very hard in battle, which was the case. To get the win, it lasted more than three hours, one of the longest matches I've ever played here. I'm very glad that I managed to overcome this challenge because I felt like Holger was close, if not to his best, then close to his best. Every time we face each other, it's always a very close match. We play very similar styles of tennis, so I think that's also probably the contributor to close matches. There was extra tension for me, I think, knowing that a win would clinch me the year number one. I was feeling that and frustrated at times tonight, but in the important moments, I guess when it mattered, I found the right solution to win. How much of a technical challenge are you going to change in your game? Bjarnek probably has a better forehand, I would say, but Holger of tonight played on an extremely high level. I think Holger of tonight could win against Sinner and against anybody that he would face on the court. It would be very interesting to see how he matches up with other players in the group. Janik, obviously, is in great form. He's been playing tennis of his life this year, best season of his career. Obviously, playing at home, the Italian crowd helps a lot, boosts his confidence and gives him, in a way, wings to play his best tennis, which he did today. I saw a little bit of his match against Tsitsipas. He played great, very solid, good serves. Janik is one of the fastest and strongest hitters from the baseline out there in the world that we had for the last couple of years. I know his game very well. I never lost to him, but we had some really close matches. Last time we played in the semis of Wimbledon, obviously. I'm going to obviously prepare myself well for the match. I know what to expect. I can expect the highest of him with, of course, the support of the crowd. It's going to be nice, I think, for the tournament, us facing each other. I think we're both in great form. Let's see what happens. What do you think of what you've achieved this year? Three majors, 4-4-4. Do you think this is the best year in your career? One of the best years. I wouldn't say the best, but one of the best. I don't know. I'm not sure if he got really tired. Obviously, we had some gruelling exchanges, physically demanding games. Of course, you get tired in those moments, but I think he's a very fit player. He works very hard to be able to play for many hours on the court. I think that he didn't seem very tired at the end of the match. Of course, I made a break in the third and finished with 6-3, but the break that I made at 3-2 for me in the third, we had some very long rallies and another long rally at the break point. I didn't get a sense that he was maybe physically struggling. I guess the competition and the heat of the moment. Sometimes you get the kind of shots that you want, sometimes you don't. I just served out well, I think, especially in the last game. But yeah, every single match we play against each other is a marathon now. It's amazing. He's an incredibly dynamic player, very quick, very powerful, so aggressive. One of the best returns that I ever faced, to be honest. Amazing return. He has improved his serve and he has improved his overall game. I think in the last month that he's been working with Boris, there's obviously benefit to this relationship that they're having. Some people are saying that it's, if you want to use that word, pragmatic for me to do that because then I can release whatever tension I'm holding and frustration and move on. Maybe that was the case tonight but I wouldn't encourage anybody doing that. Neither do I encourage myself and I'm not happy with that. I definitely don't like that I've done that but I've done it and that's it. I have to take responsibility.