Dusan Lajovic admits he almost wanted to apologize to Novak Djokovic after beating him in Banja Luka

Serbian tennis player Dusan Lajovic recently admitted that he almost felt compelled to apologize to Novak Djokovic after defeating him in the quarterfinals of the Srpska Open ATP 250 tournament in Banja Luka on April 21st.

Lajovic produced a stunning performance by fending off 15 of the 16 break points he faced to beat the top seed 6-4, 7-6(6), registering his first victory in three appearances against Djokovic and his first win against a World No. 1.

He went on to clinch the Srpska Open title, defeating Miomir Kecmanovic and Andrey Rublev in the semifinals and finals, respectively, to claim his second career title and his first since Umag 2019.

Discussing his recent performances in an interview with Punto de Break, Lajovic stated that he almost wanted to apologize to Djokovic for defeating him

"I also felt that way [I almost had to apologize to Novak Djokovic after beating him]. With Novak, these games are never easy because off the track we have a good relationship, which means that there is more difficulty when we face each other," he said.

The 32-year-old also credited his recent success to having the support of the crowd.

"Obviously, I was surprised by my level of tennis, it was very positive, but in the end the people saw that I had a great match and they supported me, without that support from the public it would have been difficult to win the tournament," he added.

Lajovic was recently in action at the Madrid Open, where he made a Round of 16 exit following defeat to Jan-Lennard Struff.

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Novak Djokovic's 2023 season: A summary

Novak Djokovic with the 2023 Australian Open title.

Novak Djokovic has had a stop-start 2023 campaign, with a 17-3 win-loss record. He began the year at the Adelaide International 1, where he beat the likes of Constant Lestienne, Quentin Halys, Denis Shapovalov, Daniil Medvedev, and Sebastian Korda to clinch the ATP 250 title.

At the Australian Open, he won a record 10th title, defeating Roberto Carballes Baena, Enzo Couacaud, Grigor Dimitrov, Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev, Tommy Paul, and Stefanos Tsitsipas to emerge victorious in Melbourne, equalling Rafael Nadal's ATP record of 22 Grand Slam titles in the process.

Since then, he has participated in only three tournaments — the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Monte-Carlo Masters, and Srpska Open.

However, it is not all doom and gloom for the Serbian, as he will finally be able to play a tournament in the United States of America later this year for the first time since the 2021 US Open.

On Monday, May 1st, American authorities announced that the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for foreign travelers, as well as public health emergencies, will end on May 11th.

Following his quarterfinal exit at the Srpska Open in Banja Luka, an elbow issue saw Djokovic withdraw from the Masters 1000 event in Madrid. The World No. 1 will now be hoping to recover in time to participate in the Italian Open in Rome, followed by Roland Garros.