Novak Djokovic might just be about to turn 35 but he has no intention of slowing down or stepping away from the sport anytime soon.
The Serbian currently leads the ATP rankings and is the second oldest player in the top 20 after nemesis Rafael Nadal. In the top 100 only six players are older than him which is led by 40-year-old Roger Federer who is sidelined from action due to a knee injury. The numbers show a growing trend in players playing later into their careers. In April 2012 the top ATP 100 didn’t feature any player aged 35 or above.
Inevitably there will be wear and tear on the body after playing on the Tour for so long. Djokovic first turned pro in 2003, the year when rising star Carlos Alcaraz and Norway’s Holger Rune were born.
“Every stage of your career — especially after playing for 20 years on the Tour — has its differences in terms of how you approach things mentally,” Djokovic told reporters following his quarter-final win over Miomir Kecmanović at the Serbian Open. “My life has changed so much over the last 10 years, and my body as well. So you have to adapt to that, understand these changes, understand what I’m going through and figure out the biology of things. I constantly strategise, organise and plan with my team that helps me to peak at the right time and be able to compete with the young guys.
“For me, age is just a number. I sincerely feel younger than 35,” he added.
It is hard to argue with Djokovic who dominated a large portion of the 2021 season by winning three out of the four Grand Slam events. He reached the final of the US Open before losing to Daniil Medvedev who briefly snatched the world No.1 position earlier this year.
However, 2022 has been a much different story with the 20-time major winner only playing three tournaments so far, including this week’s Serbian Open. Djokovic was embroiled in a legal dispute with officials in Australia over his eligibility for a visa due to being unvaccinated which ended in his deportation. Then he was unable to play events in Indian Wells and Miami due to America now allowing unvaccinated visitors unless they qualify for an exemption.
“All these expectations from people, they got used to seeing you at that level for 10, 15 years. They always expect you to be winning 99 per cent of the matches,” said Djokovic. “But obviously that’s not possible. You have to accept the fact that you going to lose, that you’re not going to feel good, that it might take more time to get into the groove.”
So what is it driving Djokovic to continue playing? He has already secured his place in the history books for numerous reasons. He has won more prize money than any player in history, has spent the most weeks as No.1 on the ATP Tour and is the only person to win all nine Masters 1000 events.
“I choose to play,” he states. “No one is forcing me to play. I’ve done enough in my career that I could stop today. But I still feel motivated and inspired. I love to play in front of people, of course here in Serbia is a unique opportunity for me, and those kind of unique occasions feed me with good energy. I love being here and I love competing.
“I also, as weird as it sounds, I love being devastated by losing big matches. Because I know that means that I care about winning and being able to compete with the best players in the world.”
Djokovic will play Karen Khachanov in the semi-finals of the Serbian Open on Friday.
