(New York) The loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final where he was unbeaten in four editions could mark the beginning of the end for Novak Djokovic. But he showed at the US Open that he was still the man to beat and he assured that he intended to remain so for a while.
The question of his decline has the gift of exasperating the 36-year-old Serbian, who regains his place as world number one this Monday: “People like to talk. Everyone has their own opinion and I don’t care what anyone says, whether it’s about the passing of the torch, the new generation, the next generation, the future generation, whatever you want to call it.” he says.
A few centimeters from his hand sits the US Open trophy, which he won for the fourth time. His 24th Grand Slam title, an absolute record.
Among his swarm of records, he still established a particularly notable one during the New York fortnight: he began his 390th week at the top of the ATP rankings, dethroning his young and main rival Carlos Alcaraz.
“It’s very good that Alcaraz is here, that there is a rivalry between us,” assures the Serbian, listing all the qualities of the Spaniard, player and man.
“But at the end of the day, my goal remains the same at the start of a season: to try to win every Grand Slam tournament. So I have a little regret of not having won this final at Wimbledon (in July) but in reality I have so much more to look forward to… So I will continue,” he promises.
In 2023, in fact, he achieved an exceptional season which can be summed up in one statistic, as often in his case, a record: he became the only player to have won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments four times in the same season (2011, 2015, 2021, 2023). And he played the final four again. But he is still missing the calendar Grand Slam, the Holy Grail of tennis.
So, now that Federer is retired and Nadal is in early retirement, Medvedev’s first reaction to his winner and the Flushing Meadows audience must sum up, with the Russian’s humor, what many players on the tour are thinking: “But what ‘are you still doing this? “, he launched.
Djokovic admits that he sometimes wonders about his future, whether he “still needs this”, or “how long (he) intends to continue”.
“But as long as I am able to play at such a high level, and win the main tournaments, I don’t want to leave this sport,” he insists.
His trainer Goran Ivanisevic, even if he is regularly the target of Nole’s angry lightning, is more and more admiring.
“He’s still hungry, he’s still breaking records, he’s playing incredible tennis. It’s great to watch it from the stands: I have a very good seat and I’m having a blast,” assures the former world No.2, winner of Wimbledon in 2001.
“If I weren’t so close to him, if I didn’t see him doing it on a daily basis, I might be amazed (at his results). But here, I’m not. He loves what he does, he loves challenges. If he wins a 25th Grand Slam title, he’s going to think “how about 26?” He always wants more,” says the coach.
“We’re not kidding when we talk about statistics. He takes them very seriously, he always finds something else to achieve,” adds Ivanisevic.
Because one of Djokovic’s main qualities is being a “winner” capable of self-motivation.
So the coach dropped a scoop, to be taken seriously: “He intends to play until the Olympic Games in Los Angeles (in 2028)! »
The person also jokes about his future: “One day, in 23 or 24 years, I will leave the circuit (laughs) and there will be new players,” he says, before adding: “But from here there, I think you will continue to see me”.
