Novak Djokovic says nice things about Tim

Novak Djokovic had some very nice things to say about Tim Smyczek who showed great sportsmanship while facing Rafael Nadal in round no. 2 of the Australian Open.

That match between Smyczek and Nadal was hanging in balance in the 5^th set and either of the two players could have won it. Each moment was crucial at that very time.

In one of the games of that decider, Nadal was serving and he faulted his first serve. But, that happened because of the yelling of one of the spectators sitting there watching the game and Smyczek realized it.

The 27-year old player from America immediately asked his Spanish opponent to have a go at that serve again which was a fantastic gesture and everyone welcomed that with a huge round of applause.

Nadal might have committed a double fault there and that would have made the match tilt towards Smyczek.

But, Smyczek showed there that for him, playing the game in the right way is more important than winning and that is what impressed Djokovic.

Speaking after his second round match yesterday, Djokovic said, “What Tim did earlier today, I think we all should praise him for that. You don’t often see people doing such things in competitive sports these days. Everyone tries to be aggressive out there on the court and just cares about winning, but, fair play is very important and I must say I am very impressed with that I saw there. It was sportsmanship at its very best.”

Djokovic himself took on Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia in round no. 2 and absolutely crushed him in straight sets, letting him win just 5 games.

The score line of the match was 6-0, 6-1 and 6-4 in Serb’s favour.