Novak Djokovic's 2024 season hasn't gone as well as he had hoped, which opens the question of what will happen next year. According to Lindsay Davenport, the Serbian can succeed again.
The 2024 season hasn't concluded yet, but all of the Grand Slams have been played, and with that, the majority of goals that Djokovic had before the season have expired. The Serbian didn’t have the type of year he had hoped to have, and it's not something he'd disagree with.
He admitted publicly a few times this year that, by all metrics, this year hasn't been very good. He actually called it his worst season in years, which, again, by metrics, is true. He won the 2024 Paris Olympics, but if he hadn't won that, the season would have been an objective failure.
Due to how the season has gone and how some of the other players have stepped up, there is a debate to be had about what the 37-year-old could do next year. He would probably back himself to do well, but as this year proved, there are certain factors he can't control.
He can't control how well the opposition plays, and sometimes they can play better than him. That's what happened in Australia when Jannik Sinner beat him. The same thing happened in the Wimbledon final when Carlos Alcaraz beat him, so there are question marks around Djokovic's competitiveness with the rest of the field heading into next year.
Former WTA player Lindsay Davenport doesn’t think he will be out of place in any way. She expects him to be able to challenge for Grand Slams. She thinks he can win two or three next year, as she revealed in a conversation with Sport Klub, which seems very optimistic compared to what some of her colleagues think.
"Of course I’m surprised he lost so early, but in a weird way, I’m happy for him. After all he’s done, it hasn’t been easy for him to play another major tournament since mid-May."
"I really want him to rest well, to play whatever and however he wants until the end of the season. We keep forgetting that Novak is 37 years old, that he has been on tour for 20 years."
"He knows and feels it best. He needs time to enjoy, celebrate and then get ready for Australia. I believe that next year he can take two or three Grand Slams."
In fairness to all participating in the complicated game of predicting anything, it's tough to dismiss Djokovic based on one season. It could indicate a trend, but that would require overlooking years of incredible performances, which isn't easy to do.
Djokovic demonstrated in Paris that he's still capable of a signature performance, but the amount of times he will be able to find that level at the right time seems to be diminishing with every year.
At the end of the day, the 2025 Australian Open will prove to be a great test for all of these assumptions. If he comes out of the gate strong, then the answer is clear. If not, there will be more debating.
0 Comments