Victoria Azarenka reacts to Novak Djokovic joking that the 'director' of ATP's new skit is behind his Australian Open loss to Jannik Sinner
Victoria Azarenka reacted to Novak Djokovic joking that the 'director' of the ATP 'Reality Show' is to blame for his 2024 Australian Open semi-final loss against Jannik Sinner.
The ATP Tour recently released a skit featuring a star-studded cast, including Djokovic, Andy Murray, Andrey Rublev and Carlos Alcaraz, among others. The video, titled 'The Tour: A Reality Show', was posted on their social media accounts on Wednesday (February 7) and has since gone viral.
The sketch played with the idea that everything in tennis is scripted and that the players, as fans know them, are nothing but fictional characters played by 'real' actors. Djokovic was played by a person named 'Bert Critchley'.
'Critchley' said that he wanted to make the "Novak character" more relatable by trying to evoke an "essence" and a "personality", aside from the persona's ruthless on-court domination. Djokovic reposted the video on his X (formerly Twitter) account, joking that the 'director' of the ATP 'reality show' was to blame for not scripting the Australian Open semi-final in his favor.
"Normally the writers start the season with my character Novak winning the Australian Open title. So, for anyone that doesn’t like the beginning of this season, please contact the director 😂😂", Novak Djokovic tweeted on his X account.
Azarenka, who won the Melbourne Major in 2012 and 2013, reacted to the World No. 1's tweet by sharing the post and replying with a laughing emoji.
Djokovic required four sets to beat three of his first five opponents in the 2024 Australian Open before falling to Sinner in the semi-finals. The Italian went on to win his first Grand Slam title by beating Daniil Medvedev in the summit clash despite being two sets down at one point.
What Novak Djokovic said about his 2024 Australian Open loss to Jannik Sinner
Novak Djokovic, courtesy of his 10 Australian Open titles, is nicknamed the 'King of Melbourne Park'. He entered the 2024 edition of the 'Happy Slam' as the defending champion and was a strong favorite to go all the way once again.
However, a dominant Jannik Sinner halted his progress in their semi-final clash on January 26. The Italian sensation notched up a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 win against Djokovic, not allowing the latter to receive a single break point opportunity throughout the game.
After the match, a disappointed Djokovic told reporters (via the Guardian):
"This is one of the worst grand slam matches I’ve ever played, at least that I remember. Obviously if you serve well and if you don’t face a break point, it plays with the mind of your opponent, meaning you can put more pressure on his service games – my service games in this case – and you kind of swing freely."
With the win, Sinner halted Djokovic's incredible 33-match win streak at the Melbourne Major and recorded his third win over the Serb in their last four encounters.