Medvedev, Alcaraz and the sensational Serbian. Who beat Djokovic in the 2023 season?
Alexander Nasonov November 21, 2023, 12:30 Moscow time
We compile all the losses of the 24-time TBS champion this year. They were very few.
Novak Djokovic is undoubtedly the best player of the 2023 men’s tennis season. Three titles in Grand Slam tournaments, the Wimbledon final, victory in the Finals… The vast majority of tennis players cannot achieve all career what Djokovic achieved in one season at age 36. But not even a super athlete like Novak can finish the year without losing. The Serbian has won 55 games this season and lost six games. And that was the one who beat him.
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1. Daniil Medvedev (Russia)
Djokovic’s first defeat was inflicted by none other than Medvedev. Then the Serbian had a winning streak of 15 matches, and if we take into account the end of the 2022 season, when Novak won the final, 20. But the Russian was also in amazing form in February-March. And in the Dubai semi-finals, Djokovic’s quest for another title was stopped 6-4, 6-4.
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2. Lorenzo Musetti (Italy)
Then the clay season began and Djokovic went into a slight depression. The Serbian skipped the preparatory tournaments and went straight to the Monte Carlo Masters. There he only won one victory: over the Russian Ivan Gakhov. And already in the third round, 21-year-old Lorenzo Musetti stood in Novak’s way and won a resounding victory 4:6, 7:5, 6:4.
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3. Dusan Lajovic (Serbia)
Perhaps Djokovic’s most sensational defeat. In the ATP-250 tournament almost at home, held in Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the Serb lost to his compatriot Dusan Lajovic, who was then only ranked 70th in the ATP rankings. Lajovic beat Novak in the quarterfinals without dropping a set 6-4, 7-6 (8-6). Although in the two previous matches Djokovic crushed Dusan: Doha 2015 – 6-2, 6-1; Monte Carlo 2018 – 6:0, 6:1!
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4. Holger Rune (Denmark)
At the end of the 2022 season, Rune deprived Djokovic of the Paris Masters title, beating him in the final. And in 2023 he achieved the second consecutive victory over the Serbian, preventing him from reaching the semifinals of the Rome Masters by 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
That tournament, by the way, was generally rich in sensations. Carlos Alcaraz lost there against the number 135 racket in the world. And the title was won by Daniil Medvedev, who in previous seasons had not won a single match in Rome!
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5. Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
A loss to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final is worse than any other victory. Anyone who saw that game will never forget it. Since he lost to Rune in Rome, Djokovic has won 13 matches in a row. This series resulted in the title at Roland Garros. But the 20-year-old Spaniard did not allow Novak to take the main Wimbledon trophy, achieving a resounding victory – 1:6, 7:6 (8:6), 6:1, 3:6, 6:4. . The real highlight of the match was the fifth game of the third set in the 27th minute, won by Carlos on the catch.
“He surprised me on the grass. She surprised everyone with how quickly she adapted to playing on grass this year. In the previous two years he did not achieve many victories on this surface. He didn’t expect him to play so well this year. Without a doubt, Carlos has shown that he is the best player in the world. He plays fantastic tennis on different surfaces and deserves to be where he is,” Djokovic said after the final.
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6. Jannik Sinner (Italy)
A very recent defeat, which almost eliminated Djokovic from the ATP Final Championship draw. After losing to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, Novak won 19 matches in a row. Sinner, after beating Djokovic in the group 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-2), then defeated Rune and took the Serb to the semi-finals. Well, in the final Novak, with his enormous experience in title matches, probably just couldn’t lose.
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