Novak Djokovic has achieved numerous milestones throughout his record-breaking career but there is still one honour that he is yet to get.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion capped off his year on the ATP Tour by defeating Jannik Snner on Sunday to win the year-end Finals for the seventh time in his career. Djokovic has won three out of the four Grand Slam titles this season with the only exception being Wimbledon where he was runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz. Overall, he has scored 55 wins on the ATP Tour.
Given this success, how will Djokovic maintain his motivation heading into the new season?
“Well, you can win four slams and an Olympic gold,” Djokovic said about his 2024 goals. “I have always the highest ambitions and goals. That’s not going to be different for the next year.
“The drive that I have is still there. My body has been serving me well, listening to me well. I have a great team of people around me.
“Motivation, especially for the biggest tournaments in sport, is still present. It still inspires me to keep going.“
The prospect of achieving the ‘Golden Slam’ is a tough task. A term used to describe somebody who wins every Grand Slam title and the Olympics within the same year. The only singles player to have ever done this was Steffi Graf in 1988.
Djokovic is yet to triumph at the Olympics with his standout achievement being winning a bronze medal in singles at the 2008 Games. He is already a four-time Olympian but hasn’t medalled at the three most recent Games he has participated in. In Tokyo, he lost his bronze medal playoff matches in both singles and mixed doubles.
In Paris next year, the Olympic tennis event will be held on clay at Roland Garros and will take place just weeks after Wimbledon. Something the world No.1 admits will be a challenge for him.
“It is definitely one of the major goals for next year, other than Grand Slams,” Djokovic said of his quest for Olympic glory.
“It’s going to be a very congested schedule with going from the slowest to the fastest surface in sport back to the slowest. Clay, grass, clay, then hard court. Obviously, that’s a very demanding, challenging stretch of the year.’
“I’m going to have to speak with my team to see how we can plan out our preparations, and training so that I’m able to play my best tennis where I want to.”
Djokovic will return to action later this week at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga where Serbia will play Great Britain in the quarter-finals.
