Novak Djokovic names the five players on the ATP Tour who he really loves playing against right now
Novak Djokovic is preparing to bid for a historic 25th grand slam title in the hope that he can separate himself from the current record he shares with Margaret Court.
Last year’s run to the US Open final was not only history-making, but really rather straightforward in the end.
Besides a bizarre hiccup against compatriot Laslo Djere in the third round, with Djokovic forced to come back from two sets down, he didn’t drop another throughout the tournament.
Despite the second set of the final against Daniil Medvedev taking nearly two hours, Djokovic’s march to the title was relatively easy with Taylor Fritz his highest ranked opponent before the final.
Having been on the tour for close to 20 years, Djokovic has endured the primes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the mid 2010s surge from Andy Murray, as well as now the new talent coming through.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia practices ahead of the US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 24, 2024 in New York City.
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Novak Djokovic names five ATP players he enjoys his rivalry with
With Djokovic not playing any US Open warm-up events and no hard court matches under his belt since March, his form coming into the tournament is not completely clear.
With this year’s tournament promising fireworks, Djokovic was asked about his current rivalries on the ATP tour with the Serb the only real remaining top player who properly competed with Nadal and Federer.
“I have been around for quite a few years and different generations of players, kind of switching and new exciting players are coming on to the tour. New rivalries are being created. I think it’s important for the tour in general,” he explained in his US Open press conference.
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“These kind of rivalries I have with Jannik and Carlos in particular, as well as other guys from the generation before like Zverev, Medvedev, Tsistipas – these are the kind of match ups which still bring that joy of competition to me and inspire me to really on a weekly basis when I’m not competing, push myself to perfect the game and give myself an ability to be able to run for hours on the biggest stage.
He added: “Of course, there is a big age difference but that’s still not affecting me in a big way, I feel good about myself and my game and where I am and what I have achieved in the last few years. But, of course, I have to be a bit more selective in strategy of calendar and how I pick and choose events.”
Out of all five of those players, not one has a positive record against the Serb with Djokovic leading the head-to-heads in each match-up.
Novak Djokovic is set to win his 25th major title
Despite the lack of hard court matches this year, with uncertainty surrounding Sinner and Alcaraz for multiple reasons, Djokovic’s time away from tennis will have allowed him to shut out the noise and rest after the histrionics in Paris.
Despite a new injury concern for Djokovic after he prematurely ended his practice session with Holger Rune, he will likely be without the knee brace he wore throughout Wimbledon and the Olympics.
A possible rematch against Djere in the second round beckons although Jan-Lennard Struff feels the more likely opponent.
From there-on, Djokovic could possibly face the new Montreal champion Alexei Popyrin and meet his semi-final op
ponent from last year Ben Shelton.
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