Tipsarevic: 'I got emotional when Rafael Nadal, Tsonga paid tribute to me'
Janko Tipsarevic is retiring from tennis this week and he reacted to the likes of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Rafael Nadal paying tribute to him through a video message that was shown on the big screens at the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid on Thursday. The Serb said: "If you ask me if I was emotional in terms of seeing this, all my teammates and other players like Jo and Rafa saying what they said on the video? Yes. In terms of emotions of finishing my professional career, I still haven't felt that yet because I feel that the tournament is just starting. We have passed the group stage. We are all very aware that it was a very tricky situation in terms of, because how the system is created, we could have not went through the group stage if we potentially would have lost yesterday the doubles. And you saw how tight the match was with Filip and Jo today. I'm not thinking in terms of it's the end. The decision was made a few months ago. I am 100 percent sure it was the right decision. But in terms of emotions that I'm finally retiring from tennis, they are not there yet because the whole team is focusing on going through and potentially going all the way."
On Canadian and Australian teams rejecting to play doubles, Tipsarevic said: "I personally don't blame the teams which pulled out because the rule is there, and they used the rule to the best of their abilities. And the advantage of the team is to rest their players, to be ready potentially for the next tie. I think something has to be done with the rule next year, that I'm just saying this at the top of my head, if the team is actually retiring, there is an additional penalty awarded for not even showing up on court. It's a tricky rule. If, God forbid, something happens to a player and he twists an ankle or makes an actual injury rather than just retiring because of fatigue or load management, it's a very tricky rule but definitely something has to be done."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Dl0ye9
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