On March 25, Novak Djokovic completed his 418th week at the top of the ATP rankings since turning professional back in 2003. That comes down to 104 months in all. Or about eight years as the World No. 1. Among active players, Rafael Nadal comes in a distant second at 209 weeks. In fact, the next four players on the list add up to only 302 weeks. Such is the domination of the Serb in the world of men’s tennis. Yet, going by the last few months, it is evident that all is not well in Djokovic’s world. The 36-year-old is still to win a title in 2024. And on Wednesday, he announced a split from coach, Goran Ivanisevic, on social media, posting, “Goran and I decided to stop working together a few days ago. Our on-court chemistry had its ups and downs, but our friendship was always rock solid.”
It brings to an end a glorious partnership that started in 2018, where Ivanisevic worked with Djokovic alongside Marian Vajda. Ivanisevic, the Wimbledon champion from 2001, became his full-time coach in March 2022 and since then, Djokovic has picked up four Grand Slams that takes his tally to 24 in all. That’s as many as Margaret Court picked up in her career, a record that is certainly on Djokovic’s mind this year.
Last year was stellar for Djokovic, who won three Grand Slams while also making the final of Wimbledon where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in five sets. But the first three months of 2024 haven’t been kind to him. It started with the semi-final loss at the Australian Open against Jannick Sinner, a dominant display in four sets by the Italian that was peppered with as many as 54 unforced errors from Djokovic.
Then earlier this month, Djokovic went down to another young Italian, Luca Nardi, ranked 123rd in the world at the time. In fact, during that match, Djokovic had half the number of winners as his 20-year-old rookie opponent.
Djokovic then withdrew from the Miami Open last week, stating, “At this stage of my career, I’m balancing my private and professional schedule”.
The clay court season is upon us, and Djokovic will look to regroup and put on a more dominant performance in the run up to the French Open in late May. At 36 years, he knows what it’s like to be chased down by hungry youngsters, who have little to lose against the most successful player in men’s tennis.
After the loss to Nardi, Djokovic said, “No titles this year, that’s not something I’m used to. I was starting the season most of my career with a Grand Slam win or, you know, Dubai win or any tournament. I guess every trophy that eventually comes my way is going to be great, obviously, to break the kind of negative cycle a little bit I’m having in the last three, four tournaments where I haven’t really been close to my best.”
As he gears up to get dirty on clay, Djokovic will hope to do just that.
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