Novak Djokovic just got knocked out of the US Open days ago. That cemented this being one of those rare years (at least to this point) in the otherwise illustrious career of the Serbian tennis legend that he failed to win so much as one Grand Slam title.
Of course, he did not play his best tennis. Far from it. In fact, he frankly played at a level that, by his standards, was uncharacteristically poor. He had 14 double-faults and 49 unforced errors, all of which contributed to Australian upstart Alexei Popyrin managing a rather shocking 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win.
Yet, Djokovic feels that he played that way almost throughout this US Open tournament, to the point where even making it as far as the third round, under the circumstances, was a bit surprising. These are some of his words in the aftermath of his recent loss:
"I have played some of the worst tennis I have ever played," the 37-year-old said.
"Honestly, the way I felt and the way I played from the beginning of this tournament, third round is a success."
What that loss assured was that this would be one of those rare calendar years when Djokovic failed to win a single Grand Slam title. That has not happened since pretty way back in 2017, when he was derailed by serious injuries that largely sidelined him.
However, this year was not a total failure, even by his standards. After all, he managed to win the Olympic gold medal, which was something he had been trying to win for more than a decade and a half. In the aftermath of the jubilation of finally winning Olympic gold, he described it as his "biggest sporting achievement." And that's really saying something. After all, even before capturing the gold medal, Djokovic at this point has some stunning achievements and enjoyed levels of success which most likely qualifies him as the most decorated and successful tennis player in history.
That, however, might be part of the problem for what happened to him here at the US Open.
How?
Well, Djokovic stated simply that he had "spent a lot of energy" pursuing, and ultimately winning, Olympic gold earlier in August, to the point where he felt pretty much spent by the time the US Open rolled around later in August. Here again are some thoughts by Djokovic himself after his surprisingly early exit from this year's US Open:
"I tried my best, I didn't have any physical issues. I just felt out of gas, and you could see that. From the first match, I just didn't find myself on this court." Djokovic added.
However, he also did not sound overly devastated by these disappointing results. Yes, this is a calendar year where he will have fallen short of winning another Grand Slam title. But he did win that Olympic gold. And by now, we should all know enough not to count Djokovic out, or assume that maybe he is getting too old to compete at the highest levels anymore. He is, I believe, the greatest champion in the sport's history, and that is for a reason. Djokovic himself seemed to approach this with a philosophical outlook that seems to indicate that he will shrug this off and prepare for better results in the future:
"Life moves on. I'll try to recalibrate and look forward to what's next."
Truth be told, I would not at all be surprised if we see him going on a much deeper run, and possibly winning it all again, once the Australian Open comes around. After all, he had proven that he knows how to succeed in Melbourne, more than at any other single Grand Slam tournament, having won 10 Australian Open titles in his career.
Personally, I suspect that Djokovic is far from done.
Below is the link to the BBC article which I used in writing this particular blog entry, and from which I obtained all of the quotes used above:
'Some of the worst tennis I have ever played' - Djokovic crashes out of US Open by Emily Salley BBC Sport journalist Published 31 August 2024:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/articles/crkm8gr3ey7o
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