There has been something of an inquest after last night’s US Open semi-finals, particularly regarding the future of Novak Djokovic within the sport.
After all, despite having reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams this year, he has routinely been overcome by the same two opponents, who both continue to stop him from claiming that record-breaking 25th major title.
With that in mind, he finds himself in an odd position, outlined by two pundits who were left scratching their heads about what the future holds for the Serbian superstar.
John McEnroe predicted when he thought Djokovic might retire after his loss to Carlos Alcaraz last night, and now Catherine Whitaker, speaking on The Tennis Podcast, has effectively explained why this kind of discourse is arising.
Novak Djokovic finds himself in a ‘strange’ position
She claimed: “There’s so many layers to this, how it reflects on the rest of men’s tennis.
“You know, what is Djokovic supposed to do? Because you can’t walk away from a career when you’re reliably reaching Grand Slam semi-finals and you’re so clearly the third-best player in the world.
“And yet, I totally understand why that’s not enough for him, not enough to get him out of bed every day and do what he has to do to his body, to get himself in this position. What a strange place he’s in.”
This led Matt Roberts, her fellow pundit, to add: “It’s bizarre. I’ve never experienced anything like this in my time following the sport.”
Elsewhere, Rennae Stubbs predicted the exact tournament she thinks Djokovic will retire at next year.
If Novak Djokovic should retire, what should the rest of the tour do?
All these suggestions about Novak Djokovic’s future in the sport beg the question about, if he should retire because he can’t beat Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, then where does that leave the rest of the tour?
After all, they are not only behind that duo, who are now guaranteed to have shared the last eight Grand Slam titles between each other, but also behind the 38-year-old as well.
He is, by some distance, the third-best player in the world. The Race to Turin proves it, despite his heavily reduced schedule.
Whether Djokovic retires or not depends solely on his enjoyment of the sport, and if he still wants to play a part despite likely knowing he’ll never realise that ambition of winning Grand Slam number 25.
If that joy remains, there’s no point in him retiring when he’s still competing at the highest level.
