Novak Djokovic, Tennis’s Heavyweight Champion of the World
Behold the allegedly aging Novak Djokovic, a U.S. Open champion again, creeping past what’s supposed to be his tennis-playing prime—whatever prime means in Djokovic’s outrageous, unprecedented career. Evidence of his mortality exists, I swear.
Djokovic is fast—but he’s not the fastest player in tennis. He’s powerful, but even he would tell you he’s never been the game’s most powerful. Djokovic is still capable of hitting eye-popping shots, but today there are flashier phenoms supplying wilder highlights.
Djokovic even gets tired. This I’ve seen with my own eyes—one of sports’s greatest endurance athletes, an extraterrestrial who once galloped through five-hour tennis epics, slumping over his racket as if he’s climbed eight flights with groceries. He did it a couple of times in Sunday’s final versus Daniil Medvedev, and you almost felt bad for the guy.
He may be human after all. I’m not convinced, however. Djokovic remains, at age 36, an absurdly complete, near-impossible-to-beat tennis wizard—likely the most complete, near-impossible-to-beat tennis wizard there’s ever been, modern or otherwise.
His mental toughness is legendary. His game still lacks a clear weakness. Parts of his playing style (his forehand, his ability to shorten points at net) actually seem to be getting better.
As the era of the “Big Three" closes and tennis up-and-comers smell blood, Djokovic’s the tough old grizzly bear, pawing hungrily around the forest. Respect him from a distance. Meet him at your peril.
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