Andy Roddick finds it absurd that people are criticizing Novak Djokovic for failing to win a trophy in the first four months of the season.
As one of the best players in history, Djokovic is facing unreasonable expectations most of the time. The Serbian has been utterly dominant for much of his career, causing many to hyper-analyze everything he does.
Due to that, his trophy-less run so far in 2024 has come under much scrutiny, with some declaring his winning era 'over.' For many, it's a bit premature because title droughts happen, even to the best of the best.
For Roddick, it's just too much. Speaking on his podcast, the former world number one admitted that no other player on the ATP Tour would be criticized for the type of year Djokovic has had so far.
He has a semi-final at the Australian Open and a semi-final in Monte Carlo. Two out of three events he played this year ended in the semi-finals, which is objectively a good result. It's not what Djokovic hoped it would be, but even he can't win them all.
"It was a good week for Novak. He got his paces in. You know, you have to be a certain kind of player for people to criticize a semifinal showing in the first claycourt tournament of the year when you’ve only played two other events and you beat a Top 10 player [Alex de Minaur] along the way. No other player would get criticism for that."
Roddick acknowledged that there are some things to note about his showing in Monte-Carlo, but ultimately, even the 24-time major winner can't win every tournament that he enters, and he hasn't played a lot this year.
"I think I was the first to say he's the greatest before it was generally accepted but you can't win them all. I thought it was a good week for him, uncharacteristic at the end but if you haven't played a lot of matches, it's ridiculous to think that you're going to play matches at the peak of your abilities."