At the start of 2018 Novak Djokovic was a player that some had written off following his roller coaster return to the tour, but the Serbian has since proven his critics wrong with a successful resurgence.
Last year the former world No.1 missed six months of the tour due to an elbow injury. Returning to action at the Australian Open in January, Djokovic only managed to win back-to-back matches in two out of six tournaments. A performance that contributed towards him dropping outside of the world’s top 20 for the first time since 2006 in July. On top of that, he also had to undergo surgery in February to treat his elbow.
“Back in February I had surgery, I had six wins and six losses in a few months after that. I wasn’t playing that well. I was still trying to find a way to coordinate the body and mind and everything.” Djokovic said during an interview with atpworldtour.com.
“I had to deal with all of these things and find a way to get back to the desired level.”
After coming through a testing process, Djokovic exceeded expectations by swiftly returning back to the top of men’s tennis. Since his quarter-final loss to Marco Cecchinato at the French Open, the Serbian has won 26 out of 28 matches played. Winning the Wimbledon and the US trophies to move up to joint third on the all-time list for most grand slam titles won at 14. He also won the Cincinnati Open to become the first player in history to have won all nine Masters 1000 titles.
With no ranking points to defend until the end of the year, the 31-year-old is a strong contender to end the season as world No.1. An accomplishment he has already done before on four occasions.
“If you told me four or five months ago that I will be in this position, fighting for year-end number one, having two slams and a Cincinnati win. I would have signed this off right away, it seemed unrealistic at the time.” Djokovic reflected.
“I’m really grateful to get this far and I will try to keep it up.”
Djokovic will return to action at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. A event he has already won three times before with the last occurring in 2015. Should he win this year, Djokovic will become the first player in history to claim a fourth title.
“This tournament has won awards for the best (Masters) 1000 tournaments for many years and deservedly so. It’s definitely one of the best organisations out there.” He said about the multi-million dollar event.
Granted a bye in the first round, Djokovic will start his campaign against France’s Jeremy Chardy. A player he has a 11-0 head-to-head record against.
