Daniil Medvedev is not just one of the best players in the world, as his research confirms. number 3 and the tennis he displayed at this edition of the US Open, even though it failed him in his final match against an unstoppable machine. Novak Djokovic.
The 27-year-old Moscow native is also one of the most insightful and entertaining tennis players in his explanations. And on Sunday, his first words before speaking Arthur Ashe has almost 24,000 viewers It was a hoot to see him surrender to the Serbian player as he took another step forward 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) and 6-3 in his unique and still unfinished story:“What are you still doing here?”? Come on… (…) I don’t know when you plan to take your foot off the gas pedal a little bit. “I don’t think I had a bad career and I have 20 championships and you have 24 great championships.”
Serbian tennis player, the only player to win all the majors at least three times
24th of Margaret Court
Medvedev hit the target again. Because these questions, these comments are the questions Djokovic continues to ask in 2023. To: 36 years, self-taught tennis player First major incident in 2008, not only still on the slopes, but also dominating almost, if not everything, everything. with him Fourth championship in New York Only after 2011, 2015 and 2018 Flushing Meadows’ oldest winnerbut he got his own right honors of elders up to these 24 Only achieved in sports history Margaret Court of Australia.
Djokovic is preparing With two thousand more than 22 thousand Rafael Nadal, now injured and more than four Roger Federer, has already retired. In the same year, a An unprecedented tenth title in AustraliaHe also added: third Roland Garros. And only Carlos Alcaraz deprived him of his eighth Wimbledon, as Medvedev did in New York in 2021, without a Grand Slam on the calendar. Even so, he is already the only player to win in the annals. all majors at least three times and the first winner four times, three in the same year (2022, 2015, 2021 and 2023). And this Monday he’s back again. number 1, By removing the one in El Palmar from the top of the podium, more weeks than anyone else (390 starts).
“If I’m at the top, if I’m playing at the level I’m playing at, I don’t want to give up. One day, after about 23-24 years, I’ll quit tennis.”
“You’ll see me some more”
“I ask myself these questions too,” Djokovic said in his statement to the press. “But to know that I’m still playing at such a high level and winning the biggest tournaments in the sport… If I get up I don’t want to leave If I’m playing at the level I’m playing at. “Eventually one day, in about 23-24 years, I’ll retire from tennis,” he said with a laugh, “and new young players will emerge… But until then, I assume you’ll see a little more of me.”
Judging by what his coach Goran Ivanisevic recently explained to journalists, it will not be “little”. Because Djokovic All eyes on the Los Angeles Olympic Gamesand we talk about it 2028. And “If he wins on the 25th, why not on the 26th?” he will think. Because, as the Croatian knows, Djokovic makes him “a born winner”, “It’s always one more, one thing more. (…) And it gets even worse when you tell him he can’t do something. Because it will show you that you can do it. No excuse”.
perfectionist
What the numbers or his professed goal of organizing his calendar to seek out these greats cannot explain is something more spiritual but fundamental to understanding what motivates Djokovic, what he aspires to. And here we must introduce the work of someone who describes himself as: “perfectionist“, from a tennis player who practices hitting reinvention and this compensates for the disadvantages age and the inexorable passage of time (as seen in several moments of the epic and grueling second set against Medvedev on Sunday, which lasted an hour and 44 minutes). surgical precision that he exploited that game and that mind that has no comparison. Not for nothing half of a thousand won them After turning 30.
“There is always Changes“Literally every week or every month with the way I approach training, rest, mental preparation… there is always something I try to add to my game to improve my performance by at least a minimum percentage,” he explained. “This is a The process of constantly trying to get better, Try to implement what works for you and find that formula. And one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that even if you find it, there’s no guarantee and it probably won’t work next year. You need to reinvent yourself because the rest is doing that. And it’s a continuous evolutionary process about to get Things that give me an advantage over young people”.
new rivalries
Djokovic, whose rivalry with Nadal and Federer has diminished, causing the ‘Big Three’ to push their limits and elevate their games to never-before-seen heights. Embrace new rivalries nowspecifically created with Alcaraz and maintained with Medvedev. And he guarantees what you’re looking for “proper balance between motivation This will keep you inspired to play the best tennis and compete with the youngsters, while also protecting yourself. fun and passion For sports.”
The Serbian player, who will compete for Serbia in the Davis Cup in Valencia this week, continues to learn. If he attributes the defeat in 2021 largely to Medvedev’s declining performance under the weight of taking over from Rod Laver, the only Grand Slam winner on the calendar during the Open era, he says his mind has now been made up. Not letting the significance of those moments and historical milestones get to your head.
Victory new YorkWhere Nole experienced some of his dark moments A career full of outbursts of anger and arrogance, There are others too sweet aftertaste. managed to come back compete in the USA after not being able to do this Because there is no Covid vaccine in 2021 (And it was not without irony that the main sponsor of the last day was the pharmaceutical company Moderna). And he got one point during his 3 hours and 17 minutes of play. The extraordinary and energetic support of the people of New York, Eager to witness history, Djokovic the love he so desires and escapes from so much.