Energy is one of Djokovic’s hallmarks. Spend time with him one on one and his life force and restless curiosity come through, but he has expended a great deal of effort in recent years on causes beyond winning tennis matches: taking on the status quo on the men’s tour and creating a new player group to promote — so far unsuccessfully — change and more decision-making power for players at all levels of the rankings. He has assisted in the creation of a new tournament at Belgrade, as well as charitable work in Serbia and in the Balkan region. He also collaborated with a documentary behind-the-scenes that will be released in 2022.
It should be full of content. There should be no shortage of major victories and devastating setbacks. What point does it dull his edge? It could be as soon as now.
The Novak Djokovic-Australia Standoff
Even during his 2021 season, there was evidence of vulnerability on the court. He played less due to his age and the need to concentrate energy on the biggest tournaments. However, he failed to win any medals in tour events and lost to Alexander Zverev during the Olympics singles semifinals.
“One of the interesting things about last year was that he was more vulnerable week in and week out,” said Patrick McEnroe, an ESPN analyst and former U.S. Davis Cup captain. “He’s obviously learned to prepare himself and peak for the majors as well as anyone, but he would normally be almost as tough to beat in the other tournaments, and that seemed to change. It’s funny: Even though he won three majors, you felt like he was kind of hanging on a bit by a thread as far as dominating.”
Zverev and Medvedev both beat him in matches that really mattered in 2021. However, only Medvedev was able beat him in a best of five-set match that matters. Unless Nadal can recapture the magic after a long layoff and generate consistent depth with his groundstrokes, the second-seeded Medvedev and third-seeded Zverev are the favorites in Djokovic’s absence in Melbourne.
If Djokovic plays like Djokovic he is poised to stay a step ahead on clay, grass, and where neither Zverev nor Medvedev have yet found their footing at Wimbledon. The intangibles will still be decisive.
Djokovic’s emotional loss to Medvedev in New York last year seemed to mark a shift in public opinion: a deeper connection and appreciation for his enduring excellence as he failed to complete his quest. However, it seems unlikely that Djokovic will match the popularity of Federer or Nadal in the autumnal phase. Djokovic, who is an expert at returning serve and shooting himself in a sneaker, has been polarizing for years and it looks like he will continue to be so.
Source: NY Times
