Novak Djokovic might be leading the world rankings by almost 5000 points, but he is under no illusion of how dangerous the rising stars of the men’s game could be to his future title hopes.
The world No.1 address the emerging threat shortly after his straight sets dismissal of Gilles Muller in the second round of the Rogers Cup. It was Djokovic’s first win on the tour since his shock loss to Sam Querrey in the third round of the Wimbledon Championships.
“I’m quite pleased with the way I held my nerves and was focused and just overall performance was very pleasing considering it was the first hard court match for a long time.” Djokovic said about his performance in Toronto.
This year has seen triumph for the younger players on the tour. Dominic Thiem has won four ATP titles and reached the semifinals at the French Open. Meanwhile, Germany’s Alexander Zverev is at a ranking high of 25th in the world and has reached two ATP finals. Thiem and Zverev are two out of four players aged under 22 that are ranked in the top-30 (the other two are Nick Kyrgios and Lucas Pouille). One day these players could take over from Djokovic as the stars of the tour, something which doesn’t concern the world No.1.
“It’s a natural cycle of life and sport. New faces are coming up and challenging the best players in the world.” He said about the next generation of players.
“They have won against all of us in some big occasions here and there, and they showed that they have enough quality to be serious contenders for the top spots and for major titles.”
At the age of 29, Djokovic still has a few years left on the tour. On the other hand, he is not invincible from getting old and more injury prone. Nobody expected last year that Roger Federer would only play in seven tournaments in 2016 before ending his season due to a knee injury. The future is an uncertain one, but Djokovic is thriving on the future challenges he faces from the likes of Thiem and Zverev.
“I know as time goes on and passes by, I will have more players challenging me and trying to take away that top spot.” He said.
“That’s something that keeps me going each day, knowing that there is so many of the other guys that are putting in the hours on the court, so I need to work even harder in order to stay there.”
It can be argued that there is no better example for a young player to follow than the one set by Djokovic. The Serbian, who was recently elected to the players ATP council, hopes to inspire many both on and off the court.
“I’m obviously doing everything in my own power and my own field of influence to be a positive example on and off the court. I’m very connected emotionally to this sport,” said Djokovic.
Djokovic will play Radek Stepanek in the third round of the Rogers Cup on Thursday. He currently has a win-loss record of 11-1 against the 37-year-old Czech.
