A lot of theories have been circulated about how Novak Djokovic has managed to rise back to the top of the men’s game, but the man himself believes his resurgence was triggered by a ‘trip in nature.’
The world No.3 is experiencing a stellar second part of the year. Since the start of the grass-court season, Djokovic has won 26 out of 28 matches played. Claiming titles at Wimbledon, Cincinnati and the US Open. His two losses were at the hands of Marin Cilic and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The run is a stark contrast to the start of 2018, where the Serbian experienced a mixed performance on the tour after coming back from a lengthy injury absence.
“After the trip in nature, everything came together,” The Associated Press quoted Djokovic as saying on Monday. “The finals in Queens, the titles at Wimbledon, Cincinnati and the US Open. … In May, who would have thought I would be in this position.”
The hiking trip was with his wife Jelena that took place after the French Open. In September, Djokovic told reporters that he went on a five-day hiking trip around the French alps. Speaking about their trip, he said the pair ‘isolated’ themselves and ‘took things from a different perspective.’
Djokovic hasn’t played a match since his win over Juan Martin del Potro at the US Open. Initially, he was set to play in Beijing, but had opted to spend more time resting and training in Belgrade. Instead, he will return to action next week at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. A tournament he has won on three previous occasions.
“I will be in Shanghai. The plan was to also play Beijing, but because of the excellent circumstances in the last three months and too many matches that I played, I decided not to play there.” Djokovic told Prva TV’s morning program about his schedule.
“I was a little physically and mentally exhausted after the Laver Cup which was demanding for all of us. That gave me an opportunity to spend a little more time with the family in Belgrade and train here.”
No.1 goal
After missing the second half of 2017 due to a serious elbow injury, the 31-year-old has a prime opportunity to bag a series of ranking points. Making him a strong contender for the year-end No.1 spot. Rafael Nadal is currently sidelined by injury, but Roger Federer is likely to pose a threat to his plans.
“We are leaving this possibility open,” he said. “But first and foremost I have to play well in Shanghai.”
There remains the possibility that Djokovic could play an ATP 500 event in either Basel or Vienna after Shanghai to gain more points. He hasn’t played in Basel since 2011 and Vienna since 2007.
In this weeks ATP Rankings, Djokovic is currently 455 points behind Federer and 2315 points adrift from Nadal in the race for No.1. Should he rise back to the top, it would be the first time he has done so since November 2016.
