Novak Djokovic has been very picky about his schedule for many years now, and according to former player Rennae Stubbs, it’s why he’s been as dominant as he is.
While Djokovic is one of the best players in the world, he’s getting up there in age. He’s not a cyborg and certainly can feel the effects of matches every time he plays. That in itself makes scheduling quite important because if you push yourself too much, you might find it too difficult to compete late in the season.
Djokovic has been very diligent about that for a few years, as he generally picks his spots wisely. It’s worked really well for him so far and is, according to Stubbs, the reason why he’s still so dominant on the ATP Tour.
That and the pandemic because, for Stubbs, skipping a good chunk of the season due to not being vaccinated helped him preserve his body, and she talked about it during the latest episode of her Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
I’m like ‘Dude you got to pick your schedule a little bit better’, which is why i think Novak, for example, has been able to dominate the last few years. I mean listen, the pandemic was not a friend to him. Let’s face it, vaccines and all and not being able to play like three or four Grand Slams that he should have played and probably would have won, but you know what i think it’s given him longevity.
It’s an interesting theory, but it makes sense. He did miss quite a bit of time. For example, in 2021, Djokovic had basically two months between the Australian Open and the clay season.
He then had two months between the Olympics and the US Open. And then two months between that event and the Paris Masters.
Similar things happened in 2022, and he missed the Sunshine Double this time as well. Those two-month layoffs certainly helped him recover properly and prepare well.
“Even more longevity because he actually was resting his body for a period of that time. So i think it randomly has helped him. I’m sure he’d probably like to have played,” she added.
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