Novak Djokovic lamenting poor 2024 still a 'career year' for most says Andy Roddick

Thursday, 17 October 2024 at 15:23

Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic shaking hands at the net

Novak Djokovic is currently playing the Six Kings Slam and it has been realistically his worst year for a long time with no Grand Slams won and in reality a downturn. But Andy Roddick pointed out a flaw in describing it as thus.

That is the high standards that Djokovic has for himself as for most others it would be a career best year which shows the sort of waters that he swims in compared to the rest of the tour.

He will face Jannik Sinner for the second time in just over a week later on in the semi-finals of the Six Kings Slam before he wraps up his season at the Paris Masters then potentially ATP Finals.

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“One thing I want to talk about is, on the men’s side no surprise, [Jannik] Sinner–Novak [Djokovic] final, like Novak coming back and going through a Masters 1000 draw at 37, he hasn’t played since the Open, I guess he played Davis Cup but haven’t played an ATP match since the Open,” Roddick said [22:55].

“I was struck by his press conference afterwards when someone asked about the negative results, I thought his take was completely rational. In a world where we kind of train ourselves and especially the great ones almost train yourself to be a master of being irrational sometimes. He goes, ‘Yeah like listen, this is my worst performing year for a long time. It was bound to happen at some point. I’m still happy with my gold medal, oh by the way,’” he added.

“But let’s think about this just for a second and put it in terms of like normies, like his worst performing year ever – he made the semifinals of Australia, the finals of Wimbledon, won Olympic gold, finals of Masters 1000. Like that’s a career year for most of us. But I thought it was completely rational.”

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Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.

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