By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday October 13, 2024
There are nonetheless loads of positives for Novak Djokovic to take even if he did not deliver dwelling his a hundredth profession ATP title on Sunday in Shanghai. The 24-time main champion, who fell to Jannik Sinner, 7-6(4), 6-3, says that the a hundredth title was by no means a giant focus for him when it comes to goal-setting.
“It is not live-or-die kind of objective for me, I believe I’ve achieved all of my greatest objectives in my profession,” the 37-year-old informed the media after his loss on Sunday. “Proper now it is actually about slams and about nonetheless seeing how far I can sort of push the bar for myself.”
Djokovic says he believes he can nonetheless match up with the highest skills on the ATP Tour, Djokovic has gone a mixed 1-3 in opposition to Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in 2024, notching a legacy-defining win over Alcaraz within the Olympic Gold medal match that made his season. He was defeated soundly by Alcaraz within the Wimbledon ultimate, and has misplaced each contests with Sinner, within the Australian Open semifinals and as we speak in Shanghai, whereas profitable only one set.
“So long as I carry out the best way I carried out truly this week, I believe I can go toe-to-toe with the massive guys,” He stated, including: “So long as that is the case, I assume I am going to nonetheless really feel the necessity to carry on competing, and motivation to be on the market, and let’s examine how lengthy that is going to final for.”
The Serbian icon says he’s nonetheless fueled by his ardour for tennis and his aggressive hearth. He plans to proceed pushing for the most important titles in tennis in 2025. His tone lately may very well be described extra as hopeful than assured, which is a stark distinction from the place he was in 2023, when he gained three of the 4 majors on supply.
However, the hope springs everlasting.
“My most important motivation comes from love and keenness for the game, and in addition the will to maintain competing,” he stated. “These are sorts of matches and challenges that I nonetheless attempt for, to be able to play in opposition to the perfect gamers on the earth, on the most important stage, within the finals of a number of the greatest tournaments on the earth.
“That is what I work for and why I nonetheless carry on pushing myself. That is all that may be stated about that. I do not know what the long run brings, I am going to simply attempt to sort of glide to see how I really feel in a given second. I nonetheless plan to compete and play subsequent season and, yeah, let’s examine how far I am going.”
