The victory at the Paris Olympics made 2024 by Novak Djokovic simply amazing. The Olympic tournament was the main goal of the Serbian legend at this stage of his career, after the disappointments suffered in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
The former world number 1 has hardly ever played his best tennis this year, but he is ready for the most important event on his schedule. The 24-time Grand Slam champion won the gold medal without losing a single set along his run and played an outstanding final against Carlos Alcaraz, who was considered the big favorite on his favourite surface.
In the rest of the season, Nole struggled to find the right feelings and to recover his old motivation. The 37-year-old from Belgrade has not won a single Major for the first time since 2017 and gave the feeling of being far down compared to 2023 (when he had three Grand Slam titles).
Despite the difficulties, Novak reached the final at the Wimbledon Championships surrendering to an unstoppable Alcaraz that day on the Centre Court. Djokovic is not planning to retire soon, but 2025 will be crucial to see if he can return to the top of the men’s tour. Jannik Sinner and Carlitos Alcaraz shared the Grand Slam titles this year, marking perhaps the beginning of a new era.
Djokovic is always hungry
Nole would not qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin at this time. The former world number 1 will need to do well in the next two months to regain positions in the ATP Race.
On 4th August, Novak Djokovic fulfilled his dream of hosting the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. The Serbian champion played an incredible final against Carlos Alcaraz on the Court Philippe-Chatrier and brought home a very hard game in two sets. A victory that finally allowed him to win the gold medal: the only title that was missing from the rich list. Things didn’t go so well in the Grand Slam tournaments. At the Australian Open, the Belgrade man gave in to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals; while at Roland Garros he could not participate in the quarterfinals with Casper Ruud due to his knee injury. At Wimbledon he probably exceeded expectations after the operation pushing himself into the final and finally at the US Open he suffered a disappointing third-round defeat to the detriment of Alexei Popyrin. For the first time since 2017, Djokovic has not even added a Major to his ‘wall’.
According to Lindsay Davenport, however, Djokovic would have preferred to win the gold medal than complete the Grand Slam in 2024. At the SportKlub microphones, former WTA number one said: “I was so happy when he won the gold medal in Paris. If he had been asked ‘do you want to win gold or all four Grand Slam tournaments this year? ‘, I am convinced that he would have chosen the gold medal. It was without doubt the best time in tennis this year. He wanted that medal more than anyone, more than anything else in the world. He achieved this feat after the operation and the final defeat at Wimbledon against Carlos Alcaraz. All this simply shows its greatness”.
New opponents
The recent rise of Alcaraz and Sinner suggests that a new era may have begun, considering that Rafael Nadal seems very close to retirement and Novak is 37 years old. After his triumph at the 2024 US Open, Sinner reflected on this change of guard: “It is a bit different, for sure. It’s something new, but it’s also nice to see – nice to see new champions, nice to see new rivalries. I feel it’s good for the sport to have some new champions.
I always have players and I will always have players who are going to make me a better player because there are going to be times where they beat me. Then you have to try to find a way how to win against certain players. This makes me realise that the work never stops. It’s always a continuous work which, in the end of the day, if you want to be a better player, you always have to work and you have to have these daily routines – accept difficult times on court.”
Fans and insiders are undecided about the future of Nole. Some believe that the Serbian legend can still win a few Grand Slam titles, while others are convinced that winning the Paris Olympics has dried up his ambitions. According to the bookmakers, Novak is the top favourite at the 2025 Australian Open, where he will go in search of his 11th title and his 25th Major title.
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