After an underwhelming campaign by his exceedingly high standards, 24-time Major champion Novak Djokovic declared a readiness to challenge the world’s top two players in Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at Grand Slams again as the scene of his most successful event returns centre-stage in Melbourne next month. At 37 though, is now too late for another late career renaissance?
Djokovic: I’m ready – experience can come handy
THIS season proved a rollercoaster of emotions for Novak Djokovic. He finally scaled the mountaintop, when many assumed his window was all but over, in clinching Olympic gold against a young lion that soundly beat him three weeks earlier.
He reached an Australian Open semifinal without playing anywhere near his best tennis, retired injured before a French Open quarterfinal and somehow recovered in time to reach a Major final at SW19 but didn’t win a Slam all year.
That was the first time since his injury-plagued 2017 campaign, while the right knee brace he sports in the picture above became an unsettling reminder this legendary Serbian was essentially playing half the season while compromised.
Sinner dethroned Djokovic in Melbourne and repeated that feat during the Shanghai Masters final in October, while the newly-minted US Open titleholder added ATP Finals to his list of achievements after a spectacular 2024.
During an interview with Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport at the weekend, he was naturally bullish about his chances of building back to prominence after a down year.
“I feel I can still play at the highest level, Sinner and Alcaraz have established themselves as the world’s two best players, not to forget [Alexander] Zverev. All of them will be the main candidates to win Slams, other titles. However, physically and mentally I am ready to play my tennis again and have the feeling I can challenge these guys, my experience can come in handy.”
Playing a reduced schedule has its ups and downs, though the Serb left plenty of ranking points on the table and has since slipped to world no. 7 as a consequence. He added that he’d play more tournaments this coming campaign after being more measured with his calendar, though Majors are still the main events to peak for.
Much has been said in previous years about a changing of the guard, a generational shift, though now Djokovic remains the last man standing from his dominant era alongside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray as the latter two both announced their retirements in the final quarter of 2024.
As I covered last month, his former rival and longtime friendly face Murray has joined Djokovic’s coaching team and an intriguing partnership will begin on January 12 as the elder statesman looks to win a record-extending 11th Australian Open trophy. Beyond that, the rest of the seasonal outlook remains unclear.
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes sourced
Mo and Sports 