Novak Djokovic regrets breaking rackets during ATP Finals clash against Holger Rune: "I'm not happy, I have to take responsibility"

Novak Djokovic secured a hard-fought win against Holger Rune in his opener at the 2023 ATP Finals, taking the Dane down in a three-setter that lasted over three hours on Sunday. The match had its fair share of frustrating moments for the Serb, who vented at one point by dramatically breaking his racquets.

Not one but two of the 24-time Grand Slam champion's racquets faced the brunt of his anger. He stomped on them repeatedly until they lay broken by his side in the middle of the third set.

Speaking at his press conference later, however, Novak Djokovic said it was not a good move on his part. The 36-year-old made it clear that he wouldn't recommend anyone else doing the same, and that he definitely did not like that he did it.

While the Serb admitted it might be useful in certain moments to release pressure on the court, he is of the belief there are smarter ways to deal with tension.

"I mean, some people are saying that 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," Djokovic said.

"I'm not happy. I'm not happy with that. I definitely don't like that I have done that, but I have done it and that is it and I have to take responsibility. Yeah, I guess in some cases it has happened in the past where I do that and come back playing more freely, I guess, just letting go. There are different ways, maybe smarter ways to let go of the frustration than breaking a racquet," he added with a smile.

Novak Djokovic: "It was very difficult to find any, let's say, holes in Holger Rune's game tonight"

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Novak Djokovic also lavished praise on Holger Rune for his display on the night. He said the Dane came out with a very clear game plan and that his aggression made it very difficult to handle him initially.

The Serb was also impressed with Rune's serving, saying that it was tough to find any holes in his game. Regardless, Djokovic was glad that he managed to survive the battle against the 20-year-old and take a 1-0 lead at the tournament.

"Well, 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. You could see that he was very sharp, very aggressive from the beginning, taking every chance he had to come to the net," Djokovic said.

"He served very accurately, very precise, very strong. It was very difficult to find any, let's say, holes in his game tonight. I really had to work very hard and battle, which was the case, to get the win. It lasted more than three hours. I think the longest match that I ever played here," he added.

With the win over Rune, Djokovic has secured the year-end World No. 1 spot. He will now take on Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas in his remaining two group-stage matches at the ATP Finals.