Novak Djokovic’s season was certainly conditioned by his choice not to get vaccinated against the Coronavirus, which forced him to miss two Grand Slams (Australian Open and US Open) and all the American Masters 1000 (Indian Wells, Miami, Montreal and Cincinnati) .
In addition to having suffered serious image damage, the Serbian phenomenon took some time to regain serenity on the pitch. After the disappointment suffered at Roland Garros, the 35-year-old from Belgrade triumphed at Wimbledon for the fourth time in a row.
Nole thus equaled his idol Pete Sampras with seven hits in London, moving just one point away from Rafael Nadal in the all-time Grand Slam rankings. The ‘Djoker’ embellished his year by winning the ATP Finals for the sixth time and pocketing almost 5 million dollars.
Just before the end of the season, news broke that Djokovic will be able to play in the 2023 Australian Open. Goran Ivanisevic’s protégé will go hunting for his tenth seal at Melbourne Park, so as to leave this year’s bad soap opera behind for good.
Troicki reflects on Djokovic
Viktor Troicki believes that Serbia have been put up against the most formidable team, but only because of Casper Ruud. Although Troicki, who is past 35 himself, is expected to play in this match, he argued that the timing is unfavorable due to the Australian Open.
“We got one of the toughest possible opponents, but only because of Casper. The other Norwegian players are not so famous names. As always, everything depends on us, in what composition we will play, whether everyone will be ready.
We are counting on Novak Djokovic, but the schedule is inconvenient because of the Australian Open,” Troicki said. Speaking on the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast, Oddo stated that the Serbian great’s abilities on the tennis court are limitless.
“Isn’t it funny how people panic and tend to think like, ‘Novak Djokovic is not right, he’s shivering at a changeover, this is it, he’s going to fall down and lose this match,’ It’s kind of like, haven’t we done this before, doubted him physically or his limitations or whatever?” Chris Oddo said.
“He made it clear in that match and throughout the tournament, and through the season really, that he has no limits. He’s still there physically and mentally. Eventually, he’ll hit the wall at some age, maybe 36, 37, or 38. But he’s the no. 1 player in everybody’s mind right now,” he added.
