Novak Djokovic is nearly 39 years previous however remains to be top-of-the-line gamers on the earth.
Novak Djokovic is nearly 39 years previous however he is as motivated as ever to maintain taking part in (Picture: Getty)
Novak Djokovic turns 39 subsequent month, however he’s nonetheless going robust on the tennis tour, even when he isn’t taking part in as usually as he used to. The Serbian celebrity has accomplished simply two tournaments this month however nonetheless sits at No. 4 on the earth, and began the season by making his thirty eighth Grand Slam ultimate, exhibiting he can nonetheless problem for the best titles.
Arguably one in all his largest and finest titles got here on the Olympic Video games virtually two years in the past, when, aged 37, he lastly gained the elusive Olympic gold medal that had at all times evaded him. Since then, some have questioned why Djokovic didn’t retire on the spot.
He’s lifted 101 titles and gained nearly every little thing potential within the sport. Djokovic has an Open Period and all-time joint report 24 Grand Slam titles, 40 Masters 1000s, and he’s spent a report 428 weeks at No. 1 on the earth. To many, he has ‘accomplished’ tennis.
However Djokovic himself doesn’t see it that method – and that’s a part of the explanation he hasn’t retired but. “I’ve by no means skilled feelings like that on a tennis court docket earlier than. The tears simply got here, naturally. It was very pure, very highly effective,” the Olympic champion informed Esquire Australia of that gold medal win. “However I don’t really feel like I’ve ‘accomplished’ tennis.”
Whereas he’s now taking part in a extra restricted schedule, the 24-time Main winner remains to be one of many world’s finest gamers. Final 12 months, he reached the semi-finals of all 4 Slams. In January, he shocked Jannik Sinner in a five-set semi-final on the Australian Open, finally ending runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz. And he’s nonetheless having fun with preventing along with his new, younger rivals.
“What retains me going is firstly my love for the sport. Tennis has been my life for thus lengthy, and I nonetheless get pleasure from each second on the court docket. I like the competitors, I like the problem, and I nonetheless really feel robust and able to competing with the youthful gamers – that’s a giant a part of the enjoyable for me,” Djokovic added.
Novak Djokovic completed runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz on the Australian Open (Picture: Getty)
“My motivation to maintain taking part in comes from my love for the sport, from competitors, and from difficult myself.”
Djokovic has been capable of keep his longevity by being more and more selective along with his schedule in recent times. The world No. 4 has not performed a match since March 12, when he misplaced to Jack Draper within the fourth spherical of Indian Wells. He has since skipped the Miami Open and the Monte Carlo Masters.
However Feliciano Lopez, the Madrid Open event director, is hopeful that Djokovic will return and begin his clay season on the Caja Magica later this month. “He is eager to return to Madrid, that is what I have been informed. Clearly, we all know Djokovic’s schedule currently is what it’s. He has the flexibility to play little or no and nonetheless be preventing for the large titles at virtually 40 years previous,” Lopez informed Radio Nacional Spain
“What I feel is that he’s eager to return to Madrid, so it’s one in all his priorities of the clay court docket season, clearly after Roland Garros. Now we have to be very respectful of this as a result of he performs so sometimes and chooses his tournaments so particularly and exactly.”
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