The puzzling thing is, what happened to the version of Djokovic that beat Jannik Sinner convincingly at the World Tour Finals in Turin 6-3, 6-3 only two short months ago? Of course Sinner also beat Novak twice within a 2 week span, albeit in two competitive 3 setters. It’s easy to accept a loss when you know both players brought their best game and played at a high and competitive level. It’s a much more difficult pill to swallow witnessing a great champion not play to the level fans are accustomed to seeing. Djokovic losing to Alcaraz at Wimbledon in 2023 was competitive and an acceptable loss to digest. Both players had ups and downs with their levels, but overall they played near their best tennis. Chapeau to Alcaraz for staying the course and holding off Novak at his second favourite Slam. In fact there were interesting parallels between the Wimbledon Final of 2023 and the Australian Open of 2024. Novak lost to the two best young players of their generation and he lost to both at a tournament where he had his most success and longest winning streaks (4 consecutive Wimbledon and Australian Open titles respectively).
Of course theories abound as to why Djokovic lost to Sinner in such dominant fashion. It was a day match with a steady breeze, and Novak never plays well in the wind. Djokovic had spent more time on court and looked a step slower than Sinner. Djokovic had been dealing with a nagging wrist injury and an illness that affected his energy and performance. Whereas these factors could have impacted the match to varying degrees, it doesn’t excuse the fact that Djokovic lost so badly. Even after a beat-down losing the first set 6-1, everyone at Rod Laver Arena expected a push-back in set 2, where Djokovic would wake up his inner demons and find the fighting spirit to level the match, but it was more of the same—relentless pressure by Sinner, eliciting error after error from Djokovic, whilst never challenging the Sinner serve to produce a single break point all match. In the Quarterfinal against a potent server like Fritz, Djokovic managed a staggering 21 break point opportunities. Against Sinner: zero. Let that sink in: zero. Tennis analyst Gill Gross said that a large reason Sinner was holding serve so easily was the fact that he hit his first serve very accurately, but also protected his second serve by hitting them with more precision and power. Sinner also plays his serve + 1 shot better than anyone, not allowing his opponent time on the ball. Sinner, statistically has the best second serve in the game and returns the 2nd serve just as well as Djokovic or better.
So the bigger question needs to be asked? As one journalist put it in the post-match interview: is this the beginning of the end? Does Djokovic’s game slowly deteriorate while the younger generation carry the torch forward? We know how Djokovic answered that question after he lost Wimbledon in 2023? He proved he was a force to be reckoned with, winning the US Open and World Tour Finals? Is this a trend or an outlier performance, as Gill Gross puts it? No one has a crystal ball to predict the outcomes of the 2024 season, but if history is any indicator, Djokovic will use the loss as a learning experience and motivation to come back and fight for the biggest trophies, namely Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympics. Time will tell, and Father Time eventually gnaws away at the excellence of every prolific athlete, even the age-defying Novak Djokovic. It’s not a matter of if, but when? Regardless of how Djokovic’s season unfolds, there is nothing that can diminish his legacy and resumé. If anything, this was a result that most rational tennis viewers were expecting. The 22 year old upstart Italian, who models his game on the legendary 36 year old, matched and exceeded every facet of the teacher and surpassed it. Can he keep it up and stay healthy over time? That is something Djokovic has prided himself on: staying consistently at the top for nearly 20 years. Congrats to Jannik Sinner! He fully deserved the monumental victory over the most successful Australian Open champion by being relentless in his attack and never over playing. The Italian deserves all the credit to grabbing the bull by the horns, playing fearless tennis and not taking his foot off the gas. The Master truly got mastered by the student. It’s just too bad the Master lacked the chutzpah to make the contest more interesting.
As I sit here on an overcast day in a café typing my thoughts about the match that got away, my feelings are a tangled mess of loose ends. There was something so unsavoury about the way in which Djokovic lost. One can’t help but wonder how much longer Novak wants to engage and play near the top of the game, because as he admits repeatedly, it requires great sacrifice and utter devotion to stay at the top, and there was a sort-of-inevitability about the whole thing. Not the end of a career per say, but like the signalling of a final chapter. Whether that means another competitive year of tennis or two, it’s hard to say. One thing is for certain, Novak Djokovic misses his family and kids, and he is a human being that wrestles with divided loyalties. For the most part, the price of excellence has been an absence of time with his children, a thought that no doubt tugs at his heart strings. The life and travel commitments of a pro tennis player are not to be envied, no less the singular dedication that someone like Novak Djokovic carries on his back like a curse and blessing. But the fact that he’s been such a dogged creature of habit, and a model of success, it’s hard to change priorities, and let go of that lifestyle that has rewarded him with so many accolades. As a big fan of Djokovic, I selfishly hope he can win another Slam and maybe even an Olympic gold, but I do need to slap myself sometimes and realize that being his fan has been a gift in and of itself and an abundance of spoils and riches beyond any fans’ wildest dreams. I mean, c’mon, 24 Slams overcomes any bitter taste of defeat, even if this loss lingers on the tongue a little longer. The sting of this loss is tempered by the fact the player who beat him is a quiet humble guy who in many ways resembles a younger version of Djokovic.
And if Djokovic’s level of consistency and domination can inspire such a dominant performance from a worthy younger adversary such as Sinner, well maybe it’s all good, in the end. Because Novak Djokovic’s career and legacy shouldn’t only be measured in wins and losses, in trophies and defeats. His mind has been calibrated and directed at how to win for so long that it feels strange when he loses a match he’s expected to win, but his heart has always been oriented toward life beyond tennis, to family, friends, the well-being of fellow players, the growth of the sport, to charity, to gratitude for a life well lived, and to an inner tranquility that bubbles over the surface of a restless penchant for winning. No one ever said Novak Djokovic wasn’t complicated, and as an admirer of his tennis and his off-court values, I hope for his sake he can end his career on a high note, or perhaps he already has, and we simply refuse to accept that. The dichotomy of refusing to lose and accepting defeat will no doubt be a compelling chapter in Novak’s home stretch, and we are all lucky bystanders of the Djokovic era.