Novak Djokovic is out of the 2024 US Open after losing early to Alexei Popyrin, and that result didn’t surprise former WTA player Martina Navratilova.
Navratilova is on-site at the US Open, providing insight and commentary on the match. She was there to witness Djokovic lose to Alexei Popyrin in a match in which the Serbian palyer never seemed comfortable.
The end result was a pretty shocking defeat in four sets. It was shocking primarily because one of the favorites was eliminated from the event. It wasn’t so shocking in itself, at least to Navratilova, who admitted on Sky Sports that she wasn’t surprised.
It comes back to what some have spoken about before—motivation. Djokovic had a huge emotional release in Paris after winning the gold medal at the Olympic Games. He didn’t play after that because he needed time to recover mentally and physically.
While he admitted that he arrived in New York satisfied with his rest, the Serbian likely couldn’t muster up the same fire and passion that he had in the French capital for the Paris Olympics.
The eye test certainly says so, and Navratilova thinks it’s normal. He achieved what he wanted to in Paris this year, so it’s natural that the US Open didn't have the same urgency for him.
"His goal for the year was to get the Olympic gold medal, and he got that done, so I’m not surprised he didn’t have the focus or that fire. It’s impossible to keep it going consistently. When you have a slight off day when you are older, it’s way worse than when you’re 25."
Djokovic has been around for a very long time. He won his first Grand Slam back in 2008 and his most recent in 2023. That’s a 15-year difference, which is absurd, but more importantly, everything is different these days.
Matches are harder. Recovery is harder. Motivation comes harder. All of that accumulates over time, and while he’s been better than most at pushing himself to unreachable heights, he can’t do it every time.
Navratilova struggled to articulate how he could stay motivated at all. She believes he can do it because if anybody could, it’s him, but it’s just getting harder and harder.
"Everything gets harder, takes longer. Recovery from training hard, recovery from injury. You want to train less but then you’re in worse shape. I just don’t see how he can stay motivated."
"If anybody can, it’s him, but he has got to play a little bit more than he has been playing. If he pulls back too much… you have to be match tough. You can’t practise that."
There aren't many more tournaments this year that could motivate the 24-time major champion, because there are no more Grand Slams to be played.
The ranking doesn’t matter too much to him anymore, and on top of that, it's now impossible for him to finish the season as the World No. 1 player. The ATP Finals could be an event he might be interested in, but Djokovic's true goal will likely be the 2025 Australian Open, played in January of next year—it’s not that far away.
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