"You probably need a few more miles in your body": Novak Djokovic's achilles heel pointed out by Martina Navratilova
ATPSunday, 12 July 2026 at 03:00
Novak Djokovic exited Wimbledon losing out to Jannik Sinner who will play in the final of the tournament tomorrow against Alexander Zverev. Sinner dispatched Djokovic by an impressive scoreline of 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Djokovic gave the traditional line that he hopes to play the tournament one more time before he retires from the sport. The Serbian ace has not won a Grand Slam title since 2023. But he continues to challenge in majors and keeps his ranking propelled up by reaching the latter stages of majors over playing a lot of tournaments.
This year, he has reached the final of the Australian Open and the semi-finals of Wimbledon. But his time has been running out also at times. Speaking on Tennis Channel, Martina Navratilova believes and if anyone can give tips on that it is her that he can win another Grand Slam late in his career.
But the issue that she has overriding is that Djokovic often doesn't want to play other tournaments and while that has semi worked for him in the past, it also hasn't as of late in that he isn't as sharp. He goes into tournaments without match reps and gets injured from there or is not 100% fit. This often stunts his growth.
Navratilova sees inconsistent play as issue for Djokovic
There is kind of the fine line between doing it when you are on top to now. "Three out of five helped him get there. So, he had a little cushion, but then it hurt him because then he was tired because he played the five setter in his last match. And I think he if he really wants to win one more, he’s got to play few more matches, a few more tournaments," said Navratilova.
“I think it cost him because he just wasn’t matched up,” she explained. “He’s been so reliable for so long in these majors. The outlier isn’t him making the semi-finals at 39. It’s losing early to Joao Fonseca, who most of us think is going to win majors at some point in his career in Paris.
Novak Djokovic went out to Sinner.
“The guy can just show up and play this well. But to win a title like this, I think you probably need a few more miles in your body to be able to avoid running out of something, whatever that special sauce is.
“He’s had so many little injury issues like he had last year going into this match. He got hurt on match point against Cobolli. So, you need some luck. You need all that.
“But the guy’s got greatness oozing from him still at 39. He’s made semis or better guys in six of his last seven majors, but still no titles.”
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.
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