Expectations of the Big Four in 2018 - Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic has little to prove to anybody. His motivation clearly suffered in the aftermath of finally winning the French Open title at Roland Garros in Paris back in 2016. He had the career grand slam that had been pushing him through his near invincible years leading up to that title. It broke him in all kinds of ways, and he is still looking for a way back to his best form, or even some semblance of that. Much has changed. Gone are Marian Vajda, his coach of around a decade and Boris Becker, who oversaw great success – Vajda every Djokovic slam title thus far and Becker half of those. Now, Agassi, in his first coaching role, and the recently retired Radek Stepanek are in Novak’s corner. He has also become a father for the second time and has been out for a six-month lay off with an elbow problem. 2017 saw Djokovic win only two smaller events, and was by his standards a poor year that has seen his ranking plummet, and many ponder if he can ever return to his previous heights – let’s face it, some rather lofty achievements to say the least.

Djokovic is 30 years of age. At that age Nadal had the season he had in 2017, while Federer had his extraordinary season at 35. Men are playing until later than ever before, and the always incredibly fit Djokovic is unlikely to have age-related issues should he keep further major injuries at bay. But, his spectacular form of 2011, 2014 and 2015 might not be as easy to regain. What he did in those years was something phenomenal indeed and perhaps the like of which is unlikely to happen all too often, if ever again. His ability, experience and achievements are unquestionable. He is one of the game’s greats, even whilst having played at the same time as the two actual greatest players ever. He has Sampras’ seemingly unreachable total of 14 grand slam titles in his sights and who would argue that he won’t reach and then surpass that number? Sampras didn’t think it could be broken, at least not for a long time, as Federer and then Nadal passed it, and now Djokovic must have set that as a realistic target over the next season or two. He is also one of the only players that could come back from a long-term injury, as he is going to, and have a chance of really threatening the top players going into the year’s first slam. His mental edge has given him an advantage over many players before even stepping onto the court. Should he arrive in Melbourne for the Australian Open with a little confidence from his early 2018 matches, he will have a chance of adding to his six Australian Open titles. Whatever happens, he won’t go down without a fight and he has been missed. Let’s hope he finds some form and nestles back in at the top with Federer, Nadal and Murray, where they all clearly belong, for as long as they can hold off the younger players storming the gates of the castle.

First published on tennisworldusa.org