"Leave me alone...I don't want to talk"- Ex-American pro reveals how Novak Djokovic dealt with shock Wimbledon loss as memory resurfaces

Sam Querrey weighed in on how Novak Djokovic dealt with his upsetting Wimbledon loss in 2016. The Serb recently recalled this match in his latest interview with Piers Morgan.

Querrey's tennis career lasted for 17 years. He turned pro in 2006 and retired from the sport in 2022 after playing at the US Open. During his career, the American contested against Novak Djokovic 11 times, and one of them was the 2016 Wimbledon match. They locked horns with each other in the third round, where Querrey prevailed over the Serb. He claimed a 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 victory.

The memory of this match resurfaced as it was brought up by Novak Djokovic in his recent interview with Morgan. Discussing the 38-year-old recalling their match, Querrey opened up about the details of the showdown. He revealed how the Serb dealt with the shocking loss in the latest episode of his podcast, 'Nothing Major Show.' (28:47 onwards)

"He mentioned it in that Piers Morgan interview saying, "I was two sets to love down, I won the third set, gained momentum, felt better about being on the court, there was another rain delay, and I went back to the isolated room at Wimbledon on court one." if there's a rain delay, they have these little tiny like it's almost like a doctor's waiting room right inside the tunnel that you would sit in if it looks like the rain delay is only going to be less than 30 minutes," said Sam Querrey.

He added:

"Uh, back to Novak. My team comes in and I'm like, "Guys, you have to leave me alone. I want to be by myself. I don't want to talk. I left the bags. Everything didn't everything didn't want to drink anything." He said he just stared at the wall for 20 to 30 minutes and it was the first time he felt empty. So, like something was going on in his life. And obviously when I was playing him, I didn't I didn't know what was going on. I still don't know what was going on necessarily, but you could tell when we were playing that he wasn't the normal Novak."

---

Sam Querrey made an assumption about which of Roger Federer's records Novak Djokovic wants to beat

In one of the episodes of the Nothing Major Show, Sam Querrey shared his assumption about Novak Djokovic eyeing Roger Federer's record of 103 titles. The Serb recently won his 101st title at the Hellenic Championship. Reflecting on this, the former tennis player made a daring claim that the 38-year-old might be wanting to surpass Federer's number of titles. (8:02 onwards)

"That (2025 Hellenic Championship) was his 101st title. Federer has 103 titles. I think he wants to pass Federer," said Querrey.

Revealing why he thinks so, he added:

"I'm kind of starting to think that Novak wants that record, at least to jump Roger, because everyone talks Roger, Rafa, Novak, it's the ongoing debate. It's one more pillar that Novak can get if he jumps ahead of Roger's 103. It's like, 'oh! Well Novak's got him on that checkmark too.'"

Novak Djokovic bested Lorenzo Musetti in the finals of the Hellenic Championships in Athens. They contested for three hours, and the Serb claimed a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win against the Italian. Following this showdown, Djokovic withdrew from the ATP Finals in Turin, citing a shoulder injury.

Edited by Tushhita Barua