"I don't think he made a mistake" - Ivanisevic defends Djokovic's Olympics participation

Many people over the past couple of months have questioned the participation of Novak Djokovic at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Some of the most high profile people that have said that taking part in it was a mistake are Marian Vajda, Djokovic's former coach and Srdjan Djokovic, his father. Both of them agree that the event drained Djokovic making his US Open run much harder. Djokovic had a chance to complete the first calendar grand slam in the Open era but los to Medvedev in the final.

Djokovic himself does not regret the decision to go as he never won a gold medal for Serbia which is a dream of his and his coach Goran Ivanisevic agrees that it was not a mistake. He said:

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"No one could stop him from playing in the Olympics. I don’t think he made a mistake. I just think he made a mistake playing the mixed doubles. That was not necessary, because in the end, he was tired. He didn’t even play for third or fourth place. I don’t think that because of this he lost the final of the US Open. (Daniil) Medvedev was very good. You can never underestimate him at any time. He’s an unbelievable player. He was a better player that day. But Novak was not Novak. Something was missing. But again, I don’t think it was because of the Olympics."