By Anshu Taneja
Immediately after winning his fourth US Open title and becoming the oldest men’s champion in the Open Era, Novak Djokovic revealed he has no desire to quit.
Following Roger Federer’s recent retirement and Rafael Nadal’s impending departure, Djokovic has faced the inevitable question of leaving the sport he loves dearly multiple times, not only from the world’s media and fans, but also from himself.
“I occasionally ask myself, why do I need this still at this stage after all I have done, you know? How long do I want to keep going? I do have these questions in my head, of course. But knowing that I play at such a high level still, and I win the biggest tournaments in this sport, I don’t want to leave this sport if I’m still at the top, if I’m still playing the way I’m playing.” Said Djokovic.
In order to stay at the very pinnacle of one of the most demanding sports for over fifteen years, 36-year-old Djokovic has had to constantly reinvent himself. His resilience, defensive skills and ability to survive in points, all-court movement, unbelievable flexibility, supreme technical ability and recovery from injury have all been well-documented and are now the standards all budding eight, nine and ten-year-olds wish to emulate.
But last night in New York he showed another side of his superlative talents – his ability to adapt tactics during a match. And during yesterday’s contest against 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev, one statistic stood out above all others. He won 37/44 net points. His volleys were simply outstanding, particularly when serving wide on the deuce court.
Djokovic, who returns to World number 1 for a record-extending 390th week today, revealed some of the secrets and adjustments he has had to make over the years:
“There are always changes happening, literally on a weekly to monthly basis in my approach to training, to recovery, to mental training.” He said. “There’s always something that I’m trying to add so that I can up my performance in my game, at least for a few percent.’
“It’s a constant process of trying to get better and trying to implement certain things that work for you and finding that formula. One of the biggest lessons I have learned probably mentally throughout my career is that even if you find a formula that works, it’s not a guarantee, and actually most likely it’s not going to work the next year.’
“You need to reinvent yourself because everyone else does. As a 36-year-old competing with 20-year-olds I probably have to do it more than I have ever done it, in order to keep my body in shape, in order to be able to recover so that I can perform on the highest level consistently. Also, mentally and emotionally to still keep the right balance between motivation so that I’m actually inspired and motivated to play the best tennis and to compete with these guys and at the same time keep the playfulness and passion for the sport.”
In a gruelling second set lasting an extraordinary one hour and 45 minutes during which the Serb appeared out of sorts and pushed to extreme physical limits, Djokovic also credited his six-year-old daughter for pulling him through those most difficult moments:
“When I got to the court, I saw her. She was facing me when I was sitting on the bench. And she smiled at me,” he reflected. “Every single time I needed that kind of innocent child energy, I got it from her. When I was going through the very stressful moments, particularly in the second set when I needed a little bit of a push, of a strength, of, yeah, just lightness, I guess, she gave me a smile, a fist pump’.
“She was into it. It’s so funny to see that and so interesting to see that she’s six years old, my son is nine, and they were both there. They’re both aware of what’s happening. When I became a father that was one of my wishes, that I would live the day to experience winning a slam in front of them and they realize what’s going on, that they are old enough to understand what’s going on. I’m just super blessed that that was the case twice this year in front of them, in Paris and also here.”
Much has been said in recent years about the so-called Next-Gen of stars and talent coming through in the men’s game, but Djokovic, who picked up $3m in prizemoney and has now won three of the four Slams in a Calendar year for a fourth time, has distanced himself from all of the pretenders to his throne – except for a certain young Spanish superstar: Carlos Alcaraz.
And looking ahead to next season, Djokovic praised Alcaraz for keeping the fire burning in his belly: “I said all I needed to say in a positive way about Carlos, I do really mean it. I did play three epic matches with Alcaraz this year. I think it’s great for our sport that we have another very good rivalry.”
Djokovic, who has remarkably won 24 of the 36 Slam Finals he has played, admitted he had a ‘little’ regret for not winning Wimbledon to complete a perfect Grand Slam season, but also that he had a lot more to be happier and content with.
And who would bet against a happy and motivated Djokovic adding more to his Slam tally over the next two years?
There is no limit to what this Serbian legend will achieve.
