Novak Djokovic left Mark Petchey amazed at Indian Wells this year.
Djokovic played in doubles, alongside Stefanos Tsitsipas, as well as singles at Indian Wells this year in just his second tournament this year.
The Serbian made it all the way to the fourth round, before Djokovic was beaten by Jack Draper in a thrilling three set match.
Although Djokovic did not have a deep run at Indian Wells this year, Petchey, who worked with Emma Raducanu at Indian Wells, has called him an inspiration.
Mark Petchey inspired by Novak Djokovic’s desire to compete at Indian Wells
When speaking about Djokovic on The Big T Podcast, Petchey called his performance in the first set of the Australian Open final against Carlos Alcaraz ‘one of the finest performances’ he has ever seen.
Djokovic is regarded as the greatest of all time by many, and Petchey claimed that him playing in Indian Wells has no bearing on his legacy whatsoever, calling his desire to still keep competing at the top level at 38 years old ‘inspiring’.
Are you more or less confident that Novak Djokovic can win his 25th Grand Slam now?
“I can almost understand the Australian Open first set against Alcaraz in the final, for me it was one of the best sets of tennis I have ever seen him play, given the circumstances, at 38 years old and coming off a five setter against Jannik,” said Petchey. “I still maintain as a pure one-setter, it was one of the finest performances I have ever seen.
“Where he inspires me and should inspire everyone to care about whatever they do to their maximum is when he goes to somewhere like Indian Wells, where he has won five times, and is going to have zero bearing on his legacy and zero bearing on if he could win Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
“Yet he comes in there and tries to put a marker down on Jack. Then to come back when he is running on fumes and almost win that match and give us another evening where you walk away thinking isn’t this sport something else? To watch somebody care and watch something unconditionally that they have done their whole life still is so impressive to me.”
Where is Novak Djokovic playing next?
Although he competed at Indian Wells, Djokovic subsequently withdrew from the Miami Open due to a shoulder injury.
Djokovic will not compete now until the clay court season, where he is first entered into the Monte Carlo Masters.
Who is the greatest male tennis player of all time?
Although he is a two-time former champion at the Monte Carlo Masters, it is actually Djokovic’s worst Masters 1000 tournament in terms of titles.
The last time he won a title in Monte Carlo was in 2015, with Djokovic suffering a shock defeat to Alejandro Tabilo in his only match at the tournament.
Djokovic will hope for a better result if he does play the Monte Carlo Masters this year, which gets underway on April 5.
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