Djokovic hopes to learn more from defeat

“The way I see things is that whether or not you win or lose, at the end of the day you have to be very respectful towards the opponent, towards the sport, towards the occasion, to those people who come to see you.” 

A sixth US Open final in seven years may not have fallen the way of the defending champion, but defeat does not overshadow another already extraordinary season for the 29-year-old Serbian. 

Bidding for his third major tournament title this season after completing the non-calendar year Grand Slam at Roland Garros, Djokovic, who struggled with a left wrist injury earlier in the North American hard-court swing, arrived in New York under a cloud of uncertainty as to whether he would even contest his 12th US Open. He would ultimately come up short against Wawrinka in the final. It was a run deeper than even he expected. 

“It’s never easy to lose Grand Slam finals, big matches, playing four hours,” Djokovic said. “Of course, everybody wants to be victorious, but at the end of the day, sometimes you win, you lose, and you’ve got to accept it and let it go. From a larger perspective, I’ll take it because I was really in doubt whether or not I was going to come here up to really the last day. 

“I struggled the first couple of days with practice and the first match and so forth, and then to get the finals, I mean, it’s a big result. I’ve set up a high standard for myself with the great results I have had in the last couple of years. I’m really successful and I’m grateful for that. 

“Of course, everybody is playing the sport because they want success in life. What defines success is different for each one of us. For me, success is not just winning tennis matches and winning trophies. It’s more than that,” Djokovic said. “I guess my main source of playing tennis, my main source of motivation for playing the sport, is because I really like it.” 

“Stan, you absolutely deserved to win. You were the more courageous player in the decisive moment and you deserve this title,” said Djokovic. 

“We both felt the demanding match that we played, but he came out on top, he was the better player, tougher mentally.” 

Despite the setback, Djokovic will retain the top spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings. However, he will need to quickly refocus, as he will be defending four titles at upcoming tournaments.