He is already holding the record for most Grand Slam victories. But Novak Djoković has not yet had enough at the age of 38 – but now he is facing an impossible challenge.
“I’m not going to write it down yet,” says Jimmy Connors. “I think he still has an ace under the sleeve for the US Open and could surprise a lot of people – and I would like to see it damn.”
Jimmy Connors knows what he is talking about when he comments about Novak Djoković. The 72-year-old is one of the best tennis players in history. The American won eight Grand Slam titles in the course of his career, was the number one in the world rankings for a total of 268 weeks-and was still on the court at the age of 43, was able to keep up to the high athletes.
“He will not like this defeat in the Wimbledon semi -finals at all,” said Connors in his podcast “Advantage Connors” over the Serbs. “He is not used to losing in three sentences. He is not, that’s not his game.”
3: 6, 3: 6, 4: 6 had lost Djoković against the later tournament winner Jannik Sinner, never found his dominant, grueling game in the one-sided game, which took him to record 24 Grand Slam titles. On the contrary, the “Djoker” seemed unusually energy. And slowly in the veteran, the realization is more and more matured: he has a problem.
“These boys are young, fit, focused, and I feel like I was going into this matches with a half-empty tank,” the 38-year-old confidently admitted. “And you can’t win that way. That’s how it is.” The realization: The – one and a half decades younger – generation around Sinner and the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the two best players in the world, is increasingly hurried to him. “I have to accept that and make the best of it.”
His 25th Grand Slam title, which he wants to achieve so much, has moved to a further distance after the crashing defeat-even before Wimbledon-Start, Djoković had emphasized that the chance of this record was “nowhere bigger”. Nothing came from this, even the record for most victories in the final on the Center Court missed “Nole”, which would have equated with a eighth title with the big Roger Federer.
“It’s not bad luck, it is simply the age, wear,” said Djoković after the defeat against Sinner. And almost added as self -insurance: “When I’m fresh and fit, I can still play very good tennis.”
“I still think it is competitive as long as he stays healthy,” said Boris Becker, who coached Djokovic at six Grand Slam titles and 14 master’s successes from Eurosport from 2013 to the end of 2016 to the end of 2016. “His goal of achieving 25 Grand Slam tournament victories is still realistic.”
Health in particular has recently become a obstacle to the star: over the season it was numerous injuries that repeatedly thrown it back. As early as 2024, except for the victory at the Olympic Games in Paris-it was not according to Plan: None of the four major tournaments could win Djoković for the second time since 2011. He had to cancel participation in the ATP final at the end of the year due to injury. At the Australian Open this January, a muscle tear in the left thigh braked him in the semifinals against the German Alexander Zverev, which forced his task according to the first sentence. Also at the French Open there was an end in the semifinals – in three smooth sets (4: 6, 5: 7, 6: 7) against Sinner, as well as in Wimbledon.