Watch live coverage of the 2024 US Open
NEW YORK — With nothing left to fight for, what drives Novak Djokovic?
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, finally won his long-awaited Olympic gold medal in Paris this month, effectively wrapping up his tennis career and sweeping the sport's only titles that had eluded him until now. Djokovic has other goals, including a 25th Grand Slam title to overtake Australia's Margaret Court, but the Olympic gold medal was a major victory for a player who has racked up trophies like a pig.
Not so these days: For the first time in 14 years, he arrived in New York without his name etched in one of the big three major league teams.
The most interesting thing is that he's been here before.
In 2016, in Paris, Djokovic finally won the French Open, completing his career Grand Slam and becoming just the second man in the Open Era after Rod Laver to hold four Grand Slam titles simultaneously.
Novak Djokovic led his generation by winning the French Open in 2016. (Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images)
It seemed like he would dominate tennis forever, but then he lost to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon and then didn't win a major for two years, during which he underwent elbow surgery, an uncharacteristic upset and the mother of all failures.
“I was not in a normal mental state,” he said later.
There are early signs that Djokovic is working to avoid winning again in 2024. Asked about his motivation ahead of the tournament's start, Djokovic spoke about his rivalries with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, his work with the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) and his belief in his own competitive spirit.
Not much can be taken from his comfortable 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 first-round win over a tough Radu Albot, but Djokovic — and the rest of the tennis world — may learn more from the match that awaits him on Wednesday, when he faces compatriot Laslo Djere, whom he will face again in the fourth round in 2023. Djokovic trailed by two sets but eventually rallied to win the title in five sets.
Going deeper
How Novak Djokovic changed the game to become the GOAT
Djokovic is in a strange spot. He just finished what he calls the “greatest achievement” of his career, but the season overall has been more of a trough than a peak. Despite beating Alcaraz to win Olympic gold, he lost consecutive Wimbledon finals to Spaniards. At the Australian Open, where he once seemed invincible, he was swamped by Sinner. The rivalries that inspire him haven't gone according to plan lately.
Novak Djokovic's struggles date back to his time on clay courts. (Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images)
This could work to Djokovic's advantage. He finally has two young rivals at his level. He'll be desperate to beat them and get back to the top of tennis, as he has done so many over the last decade. He may be the U.S. Open champion, but his biggest shot here in New York is Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion. The No. 1 player in the world is Sinner, not Djokovic.
Djokovic loves nothing more than to prove a point and shut up those who disparage him. This is not the same as June 2016, when it seemed all too easy for Djokovic to turn the “Big 4” into the “Big 1” and dominate tennis.
Just eight years ago, there was no sign of Djokovic's motivation waning, and while in retrospect the plateau that comes with achieving tennis' holy grail is obvious, that wasn't predicted then.
Looking back at his pre-Wimbledon press conference, Djokovic wasn't asked whether he would struggle to achieve his new goal, and the topic only came up after his shock loss to American Sam Querrey.
Novak Djokovic's loss to American Sam Querrey at Wimbledon was one of the biggest shocks in recent tournament history. (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
“It feels amazing to win four Grand Slam tournaments at the same time,” Djokovic said that summer. “I knew going into Wimbledon it wasn't going to be easy to get myself mentally motivated again.”
Djokovic has since said he was having an existential crisis during that period.
“It was a period of real soul-searching off the court,” he later recalled. During his loss to Querrey, Djokovic recalled asking his team to stay alone in a room during the rain-related stoppages.
“I just looked at the wall and it was boring. I literally had no motivation inside of me,” he said.
In a 2018 interview, Djokovic added that his injury midway through the previous year came at a time when he was “feeling emotionally unstable.” After parting ways with Boris Becker at the end of 2016, Djokovic disbanded his team during the 2017 clay court season to regain his drive to win matches. With no motivation left, Djokovic even considered retiring.
He's since been able to reframe this difficult time as a valuable learning experience — he even said he was “very glad” it happened — and if there was ever a time when this experience would be useful, it would be now.
At 37 and only a few months removed from knee surgery, Djokovic's biggest obstacle to dominating again may be physical, not mental. “In my mind, there are no limitations,” he said at Wimbledon. “As long as I feel I can play at this high level, I want to keep playing.”
At his homecoming celebration in Belgrade after the Olympics, Djokovic hinted that there was nothing left to win: “I feel fulfilled, I feel perfect. Let's celebrate!” he said. In the next moment, he opened up the possibility of playing into his 40s and defending his title at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
He has some factors in his favor: His kids are now old enough to watch their dad play, which seems to provide an added incentive: Djokovic broke down in tears in his children's arms in Paris, performing a new and knowledgeable violin performance for his daughter.
The Olympic gold medal was an occasion for celebration for the whole family. (Amin Mohammad Jamali/Getty Images)
Above all, he has the sport of tennis: One of the great things about being a tennis player is that even if you win it all, there are always new challenges to overcome, new shots to develop, new tactics to try.
On Monday against Albot, Djokovic brought his usual party instincts to Arthur Ashe Stadium and looked fired up. He broke serve while down 40-0. He hit the hardest forehand of his career. He closed the second set with a second-serve ace. Why not? Wednesday's second-round match against Djere may be nothing like the Olympic gold-medal match, but give Djokovic a court, an opponent and a crowd and he'll find a point to prove.
(Top photo: Eric W. Lasko/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
