By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Sunday, July 14, 2024
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Wimbledon—Novak Djokovic isn’t accustomed to life as a middle man.
Wedged between Wimbledon winner Carlos Alcaraz and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the rankings, Djokovic concedes he’s not at the lofty level of his fellow reigning major champions right now.
More: Alcaraz Dismisses Djokovic to Defend Wimbledon
In the aftermath of his 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4) loss to defending champion Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final today, Djokovic said he’s just not as good as the young elites.
The Grand Slam king said his desire is deep—and he hopes to lift his level for this month’s Paris Olympics and next month’s US Open.
“The Olympic Games and US Open are the two big goals for the rest of the year for me really. I’m hoping I can be at my best on those two tournaments,” Djokovic said. “That’s all I can say right now. I mean, being able to reach the finals of Wimbledon, of course, it’s a great confidence boost.
“But I also feel like in a matchup today against best player right now in the world for sure, I mean, other than Jannik, and both of them are the best this year by far, I feel like I’m not at that level.”
Stats support that feeling: Djokovic has not defeated a Top 10 opponent since his 6-3, 6-3 sweep of Sinner in the ATP Finals title match in Turin last November.
The 37-year-old Serbian superstar has spent part of his career overcoming adversity knee surgery is the latest hurdle he’s cleared.
Coming off arthroscopic surgery to repair his torn medial meniscus in his right knee on Wednesday, June 5th in Paris, the second-seeded Serbian showed supreme determination just to battle into his 10th Wimbledon final.
Seven-time Wimbledon winner Djokovic said he has a simple goal for the rest of the season. Rely on resilience, strengthen his surgically-repaired right now and accept the fact he must be better to defeat Alcaraz and Sinner.
“In order to really have a chance to, I guess, beat these guys in Grand Slam latter stages or Olympics, I’m going to have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today,” Djokovic said. “I’m going to work on it. It’s not something I haven’t experienced before ever in my life. I’ve had so many different experiences throughout my career. In the face of adversity, normally I rise and I learn and get stronger. That’s what I’m going to do.”
Though the second-ranked Djokovic said he felt stronger as the tournament progressed, he admits he was “half a step behind” Alcaraz in every facet of the game.
“Yeah, that probably had an effect, particularly in the opening rounds. But as the tournament progressed, I felt better and better. I reached the finals,” Djokovic said. “Some matches I played some really good tennis. Some matches I kind of battled my way through.
“But yeah, today I saw that I was just, as I said, half a step behind him in every sense. That’s the reality that I have to accept at the moment. Hopefully things can be different next time I play him.”
The question is: Can the man in the middle close the gap on rivals 15 years younger?
To that end, you can make a case it’s much wiser for Djokovic to skip Paris and gear up for his US Open title defense. After all, the last time he played Roland Garros’ red clay, he was undergoing knee surgery a couple of days later.
As of now, Djokovic, who has said in the past winning an Olympic gold medal for Serbia is a driving force, plans to play Paris.
“I still have intentions to play Olympic Games, hopefully have a chance to fight for a medal for my country,” Djokovic said. “On a completely different surface obviously, going back to the place where I got injured some weeks ago. Let’s see. Let’s see how physically and mentally I’m going to feel. Hopefully I can find the right tennis ’cause I’m going to need all I have and more to go to the final of the Olympic Games.”
As for his SW19 future, Djokovic asserts he will be back next year.
Leading a tennis life without limits, Djokovic aims to push the age boundaries.
“As far as coming back here, I mean, I would love to,” Djokovic said. “I don’t have anything else in my thoughts right now that this is my last Wimbledon. I really want to play at least whatever. I don’t know. I don’t have any limitations in my mind. I still want to keep going and play as long as I feel like I can play on this high level.”
