Nikolay Davydenko has explained why Novak Djokovic has continued dominating the tour and fending off the challenge of the new generation of tennis players.
During his playing career, Davydenko locked horns with Djokovic, a former World No. 3 from Russia who retired from professional tennis in 2014. In eight tour-level meetings, he defeated the 24-time Grand Slam champion twice.
Djokovic completed another record-setting season in 2023, winning three of the four Grand Slams, and was crowned the ATP‘s year-end No. 1 for a record-extending 8th time. It was another year when the ATP’s famed class of new stars made immense progress, but the Serbian was inevitable.
At 36, usually considered the twilight of a tennis player’s career and well past their final peak, the seemingly immortal Djokovic is not showing any signs of waning in his physical or mental capabilities. He is tipped to play into his 40s.
Davydenko believes Djokovic is a unique athlete, and the overriding factor on why the Next Gen stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune have not been able to unseat him from the top permanently is because of the experience that he has accumulated from the most competitive era in men’s tennis.
“This person is unique to me. He plays with the skill that he has accumulated over the entire time when he even played with us – with Federer, Nadal, with me. Novak always adhered to his physical characteristics and tried to maintain strength and concentration. And he understood that he was beating everyone with his tennis.”
“The Big Three generation used to be a little stronger. Even Alcaraz, who, like Nadal in his youth, is a good runner, in tennis terms I can’t say that he exceeds expectations.”
Secondly, the Russian opined that Djokovic’s concentraton is proportional to his physical attritubres and as long as he avoids ainjuries, none of the younger players can match his physcial strength. Davudenko further explains that the younger generation are playing a losing mental battle when facing Djokovic.
“If Djokovic gets into shape, even without playing a few tournaments, without injury, he is physically ready. It’s more important that you have enough strength for every match. And if they are, his concentration will be much higher than others.”
“That’s why they are afraid of him. Plus, the fear remains: Djokovic also beats the younger generation with his head – they are already psychologically losing to him. ‘Ah, Djokovic, that’s all!’ And Novak dominates thanks to this. What he does is unique. One might say, the only one like this so far.”
This website aggregates and curates news articles, blog posts, and other content from a variety of external sources. While we aim to link back to the original source, this site does not own or claim ownership of any articles, posts, or other content indexed on this site. The views, opinions, and factual statements expressed in each piece of aggregated content belong solely to its respective author and publisher. We make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of aggregated content. Visitors are advised to verify facts and claims through the original source before reuse or redistribution.
