Novak Djokovic will bounce back from latest media storm, say Sky Sports Tennis analysts
Commentator Barry Millns says 'he's not gone off the edge of a cliff'
Monday 14 November 2016 00:40, UK
Sky Sports Tennis analysts Barry Cowan and Barry Millns felt Novak Djokovic's media inquisition underlined where he is at the moment.
The Serb reacted furiously during the post-match press conference after being grilled about a potentially dangerous incident when he slammed a ball into the stands during his ATP Tour Finals win over Dominic Thiem.
Djokovic responded to losing the first set against Thiem by angrily hitting a ball into the court and it bounced towards spectators before disappearing into a staircase.
The world No 2 was given a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct and, although he battled to back to defeat Thiem, he was still in a tetchy mood when he faced the media shortly after the match.
"This is not a catastrophic moment in Djokovic's career. He's just set the bar so high that this now this is a real test," Cowan said.
"But if he comes through this - and I'm seeing encouraging signs more now in Paris and here - it will only make him stronger.
"Going back to the incident in the first set, yes, it was a mistake and he was lucky, but the important thing is to try and move on. He did get a lucky break because if he had hit someone then it probably would have been a default, but he channelled it in the right way."
Barry Millns admits it could have got very ugly for the second seed had he hit a spectator.
"He's passionate and he cares deeply about his tennis," said the Sky Sports commentator. "We've also seen it here before where he's reacted very emotionally to a situation. It could have got very ugly for him because had he hit a spectator with that ball he hit off the court, well there are things in the rules that say what happens next."
Millns also felt there were some underlying tones when the Serb reacted angrily during his press conference, responding to the suggestion that it could have been a serious incident, by saying: "It could have been, yes. It could have snowed in O2 Arena as well, but it didn't.
But he believes Djokovic 'he's not gone off the edge of a cliff' and has backed the former world No 1 to bounce back against remaining group opponents Gael Monfils and Milos Raonic and go through to the semi-finals undefeated.
"He's lost the number one ranking at the moment because his form has not been where it was in the first half of the year, but what he achieved at Roland Garros and to get a career Slam was a tremendous effort," said Millns.
"Since then, although it's not been a terrible season by any stretch, it's not been quite at the level it was.
"There's been much made about what's going on privately. He talked about personal issues without going into too much detail and that's been something he's been having to deal with. He is human after all.
"He's just trying to manage the situation and is different to where he has been when he's had everything under control for the past three years.
"Things are not under control as they were, but he's not gone off the edge of a cliff. He found a way of winning that match."
Check our game-by-game coverage from all group matches at the ATP World Tour Finals in London - including Novak Djokovic - on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis.
