Djokovic acknowledged that he wanted Mannarino to win a game: "I was looking forward to losing that first one in the third set"

Novak Djokovic has given Adrian Mannarino a historic thrashing at the Australian Open after beating him 6-0/6-0/6-3. After putting two bagels into his opponent in the first two sets, he admitted that there was an atmosphere in the stands that made him wish the Frenchman would win the first game of the third set.

This is how Nole explained it in statements collected by Puntodebreak: "It had been a long time since I played as well as I did in the first two sets. I really wanted to lose that first game in the third set, there was a lot of tension in the stadium, I needed to get that out of my mind to concentrate on what I had to do. I played really well from the first to the last set."

On his high level of play and his retirement, he commented the following in his post match press in Melbourne. “I actually talked about it few times the last year or so, that I feel while being No. 1 and still on top of the game, I don't feel like leaving tennis in that position. I feel like I want to keep on going. When I feel that I am not able to compete at the highest level with the guys and be a contender for a Grand Slam title, then I'll probably consider going into retirement.
"But that can change, obviously. I mean, a lot of things can change. I'm not a teenager anymore. I'm a father and a husband. A lot of things happening in the private life off court that I enjoy, that require my attention, my presence, my energy. Yeah, still I'm really blessed to be where I am. Let's see.”