According to former ATP player Mats Wilander, Novak Djokovic is having lots of success at the age of 37, which should surprise people more than the fact that he lost a tennis match.
There are many things that are surprising when it comes to Djokovic and his career. In many ways, his whole career is a surprise because when he showed up over 16 years ago, the Serbian was never projected to do this well on the tennis courts.
It became evident very early that he was exceptionally talented, but very few genuinely believed he could go on to win more than Grand Slams in his tennis career. He didn't do just that, he won more than 20 Grand Slams in his career—24 to be precise—the most of any other tennis player.
Looking two decades back, that's an incredible and surprising result, but it's not the only surprising thing about his career. The amount of success he's had in the past few years at an age in which it's not that common is far more surprising than him losing matches at 37.
That's according to Wilander, a former player who talked with Serbian publication Sport Klub in light of Djokovic's most recent defeat at the 2024 US Open, which was branded as surprising.
"I think Novak explained everything well at the press conference. It's complicated to play on clay in the middle of the season and not have a single match before the US Open..."
"It's quite amazing that he won 24 Grand Slam titles considering the following - when he's not playing so well, suddenly his shots seem 'normal' compared to others."
"Rafa Nadal had that great spin, Roger Federer served and sliced, and with Novak - if he's a little out of rhythm, I think others can feel a bit comfortable on the court with him."
His triumph at the Paris Olympics is just a statement of the incredible achievements Djokovic has been able to accomplish and still continues to do so to an extent. He was not in the best of shape, having had an operation on his knee.
The event was on clay, a surface on which his final opponent, Carlos Alcaraz, generally does really well. Alcaraz had won the Roland Garros and was 15 years younger when they played the match.
The Spaniard was also in exceptionally good shape and arguably the best player in the world at that time. Even so, Djokovic won, which was amazing. According to Wilander, that is more surprising than the Serbian's loss to Popyrin.
"That's why it's even more incredible that he's so much better than everyone when he's in shape. Some double faults were the result of nervousness, he didn't even have matches..."
"We have to stop being surprised when he loses, but be more surprised that he is still winning tournaments at 37 years old. The man is amazing."
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