Males’s tennis in 2024 has seen a curious dichotomy exist in shut proximity. On one facet is the irresistible rise of the youthful brigade, with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz sweeping all three Majors held thus far. On the opposite is the timeless brilliance of Novak Djokovic, who at 37 — practically a decade-and-a-half older than Sinner and Alcaraz — received the elusive Olympic singles gold in Paris so as to add the one huge title that was lacking from his glittering cupboard.
In fact, there have been overlaps threatening to blur the fact. Djokovic misplaced to Sinner within the Australian Open semifinal after which to Alcaraz within the Wimbledon ultimate to present rise to a story that the Serb’s time as this period’s pre-eminent tennis participant was properly and really over. However his victory over Alcaraz within the Olympic ultimate, the place with a surgically repaired knee he performed his greatest match of the yr, resurrected his season and confirmed that there was no softening of his steely resolve to win.
When the season’s final Grand Slam event, the US Open, will get underway on Monday, it is going to be one other alternative for the followers to expertise this delicate pressure between the 2 seemingly disparate twains and the endless tangle between the previous and the current. Sinner is World No. 1 and Alcaraz No. 3; Djokovic is No. 2 and the defending champion at Flushing Meadows.
Able to swing
It helps that Djokovic has trudged into New York in higher form than he has in latest months, a world so far-off from his travails for a part of the season. Previous to the Olympics, he misplaced to rank outsiders, skipped tournaments he in any other case wouldn’t, parted methods along with his coach of six years Goran Ivanisevic — who helped him win 12 Majors— and tore a meniscus in his knee. The defeat to Alcaraz at Wimbledon appeared the final straw; it was his fourth straight towards a top-10 participant and he hadn’t received a title since beating Sinner on the ATP Tour Finals final November.
Paris, nonetheless, modified every part. The victory was sudden — such is the extent to which Alcaraz has grown — and some of the spectacular of Djokovic’s profession.
The Serb’s tennis has lengthy been about enjoying the odds and managing danger. However with the bodily benefit that after separated him from the remainder of the sphere dwindling, Djokovic presumably understood that factors wanted to be shorter, his method extra refined and shot-making crisp.
This aspect was evident within the two tie-breaks he received towards Alcaraz; at 3-3 within the first, he attacked a second serve with monstrous intent, and within the second, he produced two breathtakingly good on-the-run forehand crosscourt winners that even a phenom like Alcaraz, who leaves no inch uncovered, might solely monitor however not attain.
With the Olympic singles gold additionally within the bag, what can Djokovic probably play for? In a profession as storied as his, goal-setting can typically appear meaningless. He has a males’s document 24 Grand Slam titles, has received a minimum of thrice every of the 4 Majors, the 9 ATP Masters 1000 occasions in addition to the season-ending ATP Tour Finals, and spent a document 428 weeks on the high of the ATP rankings.
However continually recalibrating approaches and reassessing targets have been the hallmarks of Djokovic’s profession. He turned as much as play at Wimbledon 2024 lower than three weeks after an operation to repair his knee. On the Olympics, he performed via ache, even needing painkillers within the quarterfinal win over Stefanos Tsitsipas. To make certain, he did have a medal from Beijing 2008, a bronze, one thing most athletes might be happy with. Djokovic, although, was not one to accept something lower than the shiny yellow steel. “That’s most likely one of many largest inside battles that I hold preventing with myself,” Djokovic instructed NBC after the Paris success. “That I don’t really feel like I’ve executed sufficient… on the courtroom and off the courtroom. [So] I’m tremendous grateful for the blessing to win a historic gold medal for my nation, to finish the Golden Slam, to finish all of the data.”
Double-edged sword
Such closures can have two sorts of results on gamers. They’ll both result in a lack of motivation or relieve them of the burden of expectations and permit them to play freely. Djokovic, up to now, has skilled the previous. He received the French Open in 2016 to finish a profession Slam and likewise grow to be the primary man since Rod Laver to carry all 4 Majors concurrently. Over the following two years, till Wimbledon 2018, he didn’t win a Slam, showing enfeebled and withdrawn.
Djokovic’s purpose over the approaching fortnight might be to protect towards such a downturn. For one, that is the primary time since 2010 that he’s on the US Open with out profitable any of the earlier three Slams, and he wouldn’t need to finish the season with out securing even one. However extra importantly, he has one thing momentous to purpose at — the prospect to interrupt Margaret Court docket’s all-time document tally of 24 Majors. Because the lone consultant of the famed Huge Three, he can even make sure that 2024 turns into the twenty fourth straight yr to have a minimum of one Slam winner from amongst Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and himself.
“It’s no secret that one of many foremost causes I play and compete in skilled tennis is to try to break extra data and make extra historical past,” Djokovic as soon as stated. “That’s extraordinarily inspiring for me. Historical past being on the road is one thing that may be very motivating.”
Bittersweet moments
Nevertheless, it stays to be seen if the US Open might be amenable to internet hosting such grand events. The previous tells us that the document is blended, and Djokovic himself has tasted bittersweet moments. He did equal his childhood idol Pete Sampras’ tally of 14 Slams at Flushing Meadows in 2018, however when introduced with an opportunity in 2021 to finish the Grand Slam — the monumental process of profitable all Majors in the identical yr — he cracked below strain towards Daniil Medvedev within the ultimate. It’s also the positioning the place he has misplaced six finals, probably the most in his profession at a Slam.
Additionally, no man has defended the singles title in New York since Federer managed the feat in 2008. Over the previous twenty years, the Huge Three have actually cartelised tennis, however the US Open has remained a wonderful outlier. It has seen 5 totally different winners up to now 5 editions and even acted like a nursery — as many as seven males have received their maiden Grand Slam titles right here from 2003. However Djokovic is somebody who’s ruthlessly inquisitive about fame and honour, and if there’s a participant one can guess on to hurtle in the direction of success — and even limp like he did within the final two months — it’s him.
