DJOKOVIC WANTS TO BE THE GREATEST
NOVAK DJOKOVIC last night insisted he’s ready to become the greatest of all time after matching the 20 Grand Slam titles of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Speaking after his thrilling 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Matteo Berrettini in yesterday’s Wimbledon final, the 34-year-old Serbian now plans to leapfrog the two other members of the Big Three by winning the US Open in September. ‘I will definitely give it a shot,’ said Djokovic, now three quarters of the way through a potential Grand Slam of all four majors this year. ‘I am in great form and playing my best tennis at Grand Slams. This is the highest priority I have right now at this stage of my career. So let’s keep it going.’ On drawing level with
Nadal and Federer, Djokovic (below) added: ‘I have to pay a great tribute to Rafa and Roger. They are legends of our sport, the two most important players I ever faced. They are the reason I am where I am today. They made me realise what I had to do to improve. The last ten years has been an incredible journey that is not stopping here.’
My guess is that Roger Federer will have spent this weekend thinking about the reality that a year is a long time in tennis.
I have the feeling he will not be back at Wimbledon this time next summer after what has happened this week, which I think will have been a shock to him.
Not just a shock to Roger, either, because the pace of change at the top of the men’s game has been rapid this year and will have taken Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal by surprise.
One constant is that Djokovic is the last man standing from those we used to know as the Big Four. The other three — Andy Murray was once in that bracket — have lots to contemplate and the changing of the guard is upon us.
I think Roger arrived here thinking everything was pretty much going to his plan, which was to recover from his knee problems, get fit on the clay and put himself in a strong position to go very deep at SW19.
I don’t believe he came here deliberating when the best time is to retire, but he may well be doing so now. The manner of his defeat by Hubert Hurkacz changed things.
There is a hesitancy on my part to suggest what he should do because one thing I learned is that you are ultimately on your own in tennis. you can be supported and have all the off-court help but the sport
AMONG the aspects that made me most happy at Wimbledon was to see Ash Barty win while employing her brand of old-school tennis. It is great to see that her methods, which are different to so many of the other women, can bring the ultimate success. She has a brilliant backhand slice, serves and volleys, drives forward on her forehand and uses the drop shot. She is not just using the counter-punching style of going end to end and I find her laid-back, no-nonsense demeanour refreshing. What I do not see is someone who is going to continue playing until well into her 30s so, while I expect her to win Wimbledon again, I doubt she will be dominating for years on end. She seems to have a lot of outside interests and quite a broad vision of life. So if I was Ash I would commit to focusing very strongly on the next few seasons to win as much as she can, with a view to thinking that she will not want this to go on for ever. puts you in the situation where you are alone out there.
It is mentally very challenging and only Roger will know how losing that 6-0 set really felt.
Also, he has earned the right to go out on the terms he likes. He has been the most popular player ever and taken interest in the game around the world to new heights, giving more to tennis than anyone has before.
I believe he was originally thinking of playing on well into next year, but I doubt that is the case now.
Roger and Rafa have fed off each other, so it will be interesting to see if all this has had an effect on the Spaniard when he returns next month in Washington DC. Both men will be aware that the players who are around 10 years younger than them are getting better — it is now Novak and then quite a big chasing pack.
In the case of Andy, if I was him I would be looking to play as much as I can until Christmas and then take stock. Only when he gets a consistent run of tournaments can he know properly where he is at.
you don’t get a proper idea playing practice sets and the only way to find out is through matches — assuming his body allows him. By the end of the season Andy should know whether he wants to continue.
While we feel melancholy watching the great champions fade, it is also exciting seeing the younger players blossom. One thing for sure is that it’s a natural process and you cannot avoid it, no matter what your name is.
WHAT happened with Emma Raducanu? Well, it is true that the scheduling of her match last Monday did not help and she should have played before the men’s match that was put on ahead of her. But, at the same time, there has to be a recognition that TV is a massive part of modern sport and there are inevitably going to be demands for matches to be played when the most people can watch. It is not like this only happens in tennis. You see it in football as well. As she said, between the third and fourth round everything seemed to catch up with her, but it was not that she played badly against Ajla Tomljanovic before becoming a little overwhelmed — she could easily have won that first set. The good news is that I do not see too many weaknesses in her game and there is a lot to build on. The biggest challenge for very young players like her who are new to the highest level is to try to stay in your mental bubble — and that gets easier with experience. Raducanu (left) has strong foundations to her game and she will have learned a priceless amount from the tournament, which will be very beneficial in the long run.
WATCHING the men’s event at Wimbledon I saw at least four players who I believe could end up as champion. Most obvious was Matteo Berrettini, despite yesterday’s defeat. He has the most power of the lot and will be around as a threat for many more years. In terms of charisma he is also the full package. He’s a good-looking guy, speaks good English, he has an electrifying way of playing the game, a good personality — a real star. Equally impressive was Denis Shapovalov (below), another who is going to be around for a long time. That left-handed serve is lethal on grass and in technical terms he played really well against Djokovic in the semi-final. He could not quite raise his level on the big points, but you would expect that to come. I continue to like Daniil Medvedev and, although he only made the fourth round, I would expect him to keep improving. Also catching my eye was Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is only 20 with a lot of upside to his game. It was not really fair to judge Stefanos Tsitsipas because the French Open had taken a lot out of him, but he should not be forgotten. If you are looking for a trend, it is fairly evident — these are all pretty tall guys, although Denis is only just over 6ft. The key is that they all move really well for their height. These are all names which are going to become very familiar at Wimbledon as we move toward a situation in men’s tennis where there is going to be a broader spread of winners.
THIS was a very different Wimbledon, but one I really enjoyed. It was not perfect, not everything worked perfectly, but as I mentioned in this column last week there was a lot that could have gone wrong which did not go wrong — and that remained the case into the second week.
We are still not living in normal times. The US Open plans to have big crowds, but you cannot take anything for granted and looking further ahead, the situation in Australia is very uncertain.
What I can say is that I was very glad to be here this fortnight. If you think where we were three months ago, there is a lot to be thankful for and it was fantastic to see the crowds back enjoying the tennis.