A series of milestones and records potentially awaits Novak Djokovic as he embarks on his journey for another title at the Australian Open.
Djokovic, who downed Rafael Nadal in straight sets during last year’s Melbourne final, could start setting new milestones in his career from the onset of the tournament. A first round win would make him only the sixth player in history to have recorded 900 or more victories on the tour. Although that isn’t the milestone he is after with eyes firmly set on a record eighth Australian Open title. In what would be his 17th grand slam title, which is three behind Roger Federer’s all-time record.
Ahead of the first major of 2020, Djokovic spoke to reporters in Melbourne Park about an array of topics on Sunday. Here is what Ubitennis learned from the Serbian.
1. How he is still winning big titles at his age
Since turning 30, Djokovic has already won four grand slam titles. The second highest tally in men’s tennis. Part of this is linked to the trend of players playing later in their careers, however, the 32-year-old believes one of the key factors for him is being able to find the right balance between his private and personal life.
“Roger has talked about this as well, Rafa as well, that age is just a number. It’s not just a cliche, but it’s really something that I feel like the three of us have in common. It’s really the way we approach career and our everyday life,” Djokovic said.
“I think we found a way, a formula, to balance private (and) professional life, so we are able to kind of excel in tennis and still be able to compete at the highest level after many years, still be motivated, still be mentally fresh and, of course, physically prepared and fit to compete in best-of-five-sets with young players that are coming up.”
Undoubtedly another driving force for the former world No.1 is his rivalry within the Big Three. A group that also comprises of Federer and Rafael Nadal. Between them, they have won every grand slam tournament since 2017. Djokovic currently has a winning head-to-head record against both players. Leading Federer 26-23 and Nadal 29-26.
“I mentioned many times before that the three of us have inspired each other throughout our rivalries and careers to be better, to understand how we can overcome obstacles in the matchups that we have against each other or anything else really that followed our careers.” He explained.
“I am more grateful today to be in the same era with these two guys than I was probably 10, 15 years ago (smiling). I think that definitely rivalries with them made me very, very strong, very resilient, and also very motivated that I am still today.”
Nadal, who is just a year older than the Serbian, is currently the only player to have won five or more major titles after the age of 30.
“I’m a completely different person, have a completely different life today than I had five years ago. I’m a father of two children. Obviously things are not the way they were 5 or 10 years ago. I know that. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better or it’s worse. It’s just different.”
2. ATP Cup glory came at a price
Djokovic kick-started his season by playing in the inaugural ATP Cup. A team event that had both prize money and ranking points up for grabs. It was a perfect start to 2020 by Djokovic, who was undefeated throughout the competition as he guided Serbia to the title. The country’s first team title of any sort since the 2010 Davis Cup. Overall, he won eight singles and two doubles matches.
Describing the triumph as ‘one of the highlights of his career,’ there were also drawbacks of investing so much effort into the event.
“It was a phenomenal couple of weeks and great lead up to Australian Open. But it did take a lot out of me. I did adjust my training sessions towards that, so I had a little bit more of recuperation rather than just stepping on the accelerator a little bit more.” He said.
“I just actually kind of put a level down a little bit, just tried to keep the sessions a bit shorter, with good intensity. That’s all, just maintain the right rhythm for the first match.”
Despite his admission, there is no indication that it will have any potential influence on his Australian Open campaign. Last year he played just four competitive matches leading up to Melbourne on the ATP Tour. Meanwhile, he didn’t play any at the start of 2018 because he was on the comeback from injury.
“It was a lot of physical and emotional energy being spent in the ATP Cup, which of course was perfect for me individually, won all my matches in singles and doubles. We as a team won the title, which was definitely one of the highlights of my career.” Djokovic concluded on his campaign at the ATP Cup.
3. Stronger mentality separates the Big Three from their rivals
With a buzz going round that this season could be the one where the dominance of Djokovic and Co is broken at the grand slam level, all eyes are on their successors. Among the contenders are ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, two-time French Open finalist Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev. However, why hasn’t there already been a breakthrough?
In Djokovic’s opinion, he believes one of the key factors is down to their mental game. Citing the experience of the Big Three, he admits that his rivals are ‘knocking on the door.’
“Rafa, Roger, and I, obviously because of the past 10, 15 years, we know what we need to do mentally also in this particular situation (winning a grand slam). That gives us probably a little bit of an edge.”
At the moment, Djokovic remains one of the players that everybody wants to beat given his dominance on court. As for his younger challengers, he believes there are a few things they need to address in order to reach the top.
“I think a lot of those next generation players are working very hard, being very professional. That’s a good sign because that’s one of the precursors, I guess, for the success,” he said.
“But, at the same time, to win a slam and also to kind of be consistently on the top level for many years, it takes I think a player to gain that mental and emotional maturity and experience to understand his own strengths, to kind of fight his own fears, to really be able to maintain that level for a long time.”
Seeded second in the draw this year, Djokovic will start his Australian Open campaign against Jan-Lennard Struff on Monday. He leads the German 2-0 in their head-to-head and is yet to drop a set against him.
