Novak Djokovic might not have accomplished everything he wanted to in his tennis career, but he’s pretty comfortable with what he’s done so far.
When you look at things Djokovic ever did, you have to dig really deep to find a flaw. For example, he never won a calendar Grand Slam, but then again, only one male player did, and it was during a time when it was much easier to do than today.
He was one match away, but Daniil Medvedev proved to be too strong at the 2021 US Open. He never won a gold medal for Serbia at the Olympics, which is a huge goal for him this year because it’s likely the last chance he’ll have to do so.
Those are some of the bigger missed goals, but it’s still a much smaller list compared to what he did. As he explained in The Today Show, he’s comfortable with his achievements because, ultimately, there are no players who did as much as he did, even if he looks at a singular metric like Grand Slams.
“In the end of the day, how many tennis players in history are able to do the things that I’ve done and I’ve achieved. I’m not saying this to praise myself, I’m saying this to remind myself of, ‘Hey, pinch yourself, look where you are and look what you’ve done.’ At the same time, I feel like it’s one chapter of my life, there are more chapters to come.”
Djokovic will certainly excel in anything he does post his tennis career, but he’ll always be remembered as a tennis player. It’s kind of hard not to when you’re arguably the greatest tennis player that ever lived.
It’s a legacy that’s still not finished, as he’s still playing, but even now, he’s separated himself in the GOAT debate. Whether somebody enters it in the coming years or decades remains to be seen, but for now, he stands alone when it comes to numbers.
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