The generational change is inevitable in a sport, tennis, which is going through a turbulent period. His tournaments straddle the line between doping Fishermanthe virtual withdrawal of Nadalthe rise of Saudi Arabia in the circuit and the intermittent presence of Djokovic on the track. At 37, the Serbian, who no longer has the prodigious physique of yesteryear, selects the tournaments to participate in to prolong his triumphant career as long as possible.
Something has broken in Djokovic this year, who ends it without any new title in his showcase, something atypical in his career. Since its explosion in 2011, this has only happened once, in 2017. This season’s crack began to open early on, at Australian Open. He succumbed to his nemesis this season, Jannik Sinner.
He fell helpless. The Italian and the Serbian are 14 years apart, but they share technique and tactics. He beat him in the semi-final of the Balkan Grand Slam par excellence, he conquered it up to ten times, a historic record. The blow was so serious that Nole withdrew from the ATP 500 in Dubai to recover.
Something that didn’t work. He retired again at the Masters 1,000 in Indian Wells and verbalized his crisis. “I am surprised by my current level of play, it is really bad. I have to carefully analyze what happened in the match. I made terrible unforced errors and played very defensively. I have no excuses, I should have done much better and that’s it. “It was a very bad game on my part,” he said.
The year that presented itself as an opportunity to break the few records that resisted it, turned into a year that inexorably broke negative records. The Serb, who at 37 does not have the prodigious physique of yesteryear, was forced to select tournaments to play to extend your sporting career as much as possible.
And when the elections came around, injuries and their tortuous relationship with the meniscus appeared. This forced him to abandon Roland-Garros before playing in the quarter-finals against Ruud and having surgery. His miraculous recovery allowed him to participate in Wimbledon where he reached the final. Only Alcaraz was able to stop his momentum.
Djokovic was never a friend of surgeries, but it was mandatory. The reason was called Games and his last name was Olympics, his big dream to achieve. The only inhospitable horizon on your way. In Paris, he touched Olympic glory against a tennis player, Carlos Alcaraz, who aspires to be his successor at Los Angeles 2028.
Once his dream comes true, he comes back to reality. He found himself face to face in the third round at Arthur Ashe with Popyrin, his tormentor at the US Open.. He arrived in Saudi for the artificial tournament called Six Kings Slam, where, for the fourth time this season, Sinner made him retire. Although he took the last dance with Nadal.
His blank year could only regain color during the ATP Finals. Option that disappeared after the tennis player himself, still due to injuries, decided to retire and put the ball. point and ends his season with the title counter at zero. At 37, the Serbian is forced to pass the generational baton. Sinner and Alcaraz force him to do so and his “annus horribilis” confirms it.
