Former WTA player and current tennis analyst Laura Robson recently shared an interesting thought, suggesting that she could see Novak Djokovic missing the 2024 US Open.
The Serbian player is not known for missing Grand Slams, and he's certainly not known for missing those events on purpose, even though he missed back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati.
Djokovic recently won the Paris Olympics, which was a hugely significant win for him. The emotional release was tremendous, and coming back from that is not easy. Getting motivated after such win is challenging, and it's why Robson thinks that Djokovic could skip the US Open.
It's a crazy thought because, at this point in his career, the 37-year-old is playing simply because of the Grand Slams, so skipping that intentionally seems impossible.
It's even more difficult to imagine because he's sitting at 24 Grand Slams. Nobody has ever won 25, and he can write history at the US Open if he wins. That has to be motivating, but there is also the other side of winning the Olympics, which he chased for years, as Robson explained to SkySports.
"The 25th Grand Slam doesn’t feel too far away for Novak, but he’s on a well-earned break and I think we will need to see if he even wants to show up at the US Open…He’s achieved something that he’s described as the pinnacle of his sporting career, so I think it’s quite hard to reset after that."
Over his career, Djokovic has been able to motivate himself to crazy lengths. It's not something that most players are capable of, but he's been doing it for a few years. If somebody could arrive as hungry as ever in New York, then it's Djokovic.
Having beaten Carlos Alcaraz in Paris should surely give him confidence, and that makes him a contender to win the trophy. Robson fully agrees that he can win the trophy, but she also thinks that he might find it hard to arrive as excited as he needs to be to go all the way.
"We know he can win it! We absolutely know he can do it, but whether he wants to come back so soon is the challenge. How can anything live up to that moment of winning the medal you’ve always wanted?"
"Then to see his homecoming in Serbia and to see the reaction that he’s had from the public. It will be tough to arrive in New York raring to go!"
As interesting as Robson's idea, it's highly unlikely it will come true. Djokovic has already been spotted on a practice court, which can be taken as an indication that he won't skip the US Open.
He's had enough time to rest and reset properly, and he certainly didn't become arguably the greatest tennis player of all time by struggling to find the motivation to play.
0 Comments