Novak Djokovic: This has been one of my worst seasons in terms of results
Novak Djokovic has claimed that he is ‘happy’ with his 2024 season, despite admitting that it has been one of his worst in terms of results.
Djokovic was bidding for his 100th career title in the Shanghai Masters final yesterday, but fell short after a straight sets defeat to Jannik Sinner.
This is the Serbian’s second final defeat of the season, with the other coming in the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz, leaving Djokovic with the Olympic gold medal from Paris as his only title of the season.
Despite this, Djokovic appears to be viewing his results with some perspective at 37-years-old, “Comparing to most of my seasons throughout my career this has been one of my worst in terms of results. But it was going to come at some point where I wouldn’t win Slams and maintain that highest level for so many years in a row.
“And that’s okay, I’m happy with my gold medal from the Olympics. That was the main goal for this year. Of course, I wish I’d got a Grand Slam title but it is what it is. It’s the kind of season you just have to embrace, and I’m more than happy with what I’ve achieved throughout my career.”
Tough to take the L at a tournament so close to my heart but wasn’t meant to be today. Bravo @janniksin & team for today’s win & incredible year💪. To people of Shanghai, thank you for support, passion & kindness 🙏🏼❤️. It’s been very special to be back here. See you soon 🇨🇳 谢谢 pic.twitter.com/qn2jcJqpI4
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) October 13, 2024
It is the first time that Djokovic has only claimed one title or less in a season since 2005, when he was just 18-years-old, with only the Paris Masters and potentially the ATP Finals to come for the 24-time major winner.
And Djokovic has been very open in admitting that the Grand Slams will be his priority from now on, “I think I’ve achieved all the biggest goals in my career. Right now it’s about Slams and seeing how far I can push the bar for myself.
“As long as I perform the way I performed this week, I can go toe-to-toe with the big guys. As long as that’s the case I’ll still feel the need to keep competing. Let’s see how long that’s going to last for.”
The World No.4 added, “Big credit to Jannik [Sinner] for playing the bigger points better than me. He deserved to win, he was just too strong in important moments. Nevertheless, I still played pretty good, which gives me reason to believe that I can still play with these guys who are the best in the world. Hopefully I can maintain that level for the upcoming months.”
Djokovic currently sits sixth in the race to the ATP Finals in Turin, which would be enough to qualify at the moment, with just four weeks until the year-end tournament gets underway.
Inside the baseline…
It is all about perspective for Novak Djokovic at the moment. Because, yes he has not had the best season by any stretch of the imagination by his standards, but is still very much competing with the best and proved that in Shanghai this week. What does make this a successful season for Djokovic is the fact that he got the one thing missing from his trophy cabinet, an Olympic gold medal, and that appears to be making all the difference to his mindset as well.
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