Novak Djokovic is still the best player in the world, and the fact that he finished the 2023 season as the top ranked player on the ATP Tour just proves it.
In recent years, many great youngsters emerged on the men’s Tour, as the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Holger Rune all showed their qualities.
All of them managed to beat the experienced Serbian, but neither of them seems to be able to do it regularly and in the biggest matches. Only recently, Sinner was able to beat the Serbian in the group stage of the 2023 ATP Finals, but then lost in the final of the event.
Rune is one of the players who defeated Djokovic at least twice, but according to the young Dane, who spoke on the Advantage Connors podcast, he and his peers need to beat the Serbian more often.
“Yeah, I totally agree. I have to agree and I do agree. But the fact is, Novak is still winning three out of four Grand Slams this year. So we cannot say that he is gone because we need to beat him like not just one time but like every time. I will try to beat him every time because if he keeps winning this big tournaments, why would he stop?”
The reason for that is simple. If Rune and the upcoming generation of players don’t beat Djokovic often enough to make him consider a retirement, he simply won’t think about it, making their lives on the Tour more difficult.
“I mean he is not gonna stop until we beat him so the sooner we can get the level raised, the sooner we will take over. I actually like that Novak is still here because you know for us young players to really see what the real world is in a way, what the real deal is, you know.”
For Rune, it’s also very important to play a legend of the sport, as it shows him that his level to challenge for the big titles is there. According to the Danish player, Djokovic sets a very high standard, something he also wants to reach in his career.
“If you never experience Roger, Rafa or Novak, I think we would miss something and I think Novak is like extremely high standard and I think for us so close to see that is very helpful.”
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