When I started talking to a former ATP Tour top 10 player this month, the topic came up about the current power around the top tier of the men’s game.
What was the opinion of this (non-British) player, who had a successful career on both sides of the turn of the century, about the prevailing norms of today’s elite outside of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz?
The exact term used in his response was not appropriate for print, and let’s just say it was far from positive.
He added that Rafael Nadal may be watching during his lengthy recovery, encouraged that he can come back in his farewell year and do some serious damage, even with the 37-year-old Spaniard well past the peak of his physical powers.
Most of the tour has returned to China after the Covid-19-induced hiatus, and Djokovic has decided to postpone this swing.
Novak Djokovic remains the best player in men’s tennis, despite his 36 years
The Serbian won a record 24th Grand Slam title when he won the US Open earlier this month
This is hardly a surprise as he knows he can still achieve what he does while barely appearing at ATP Tour events.
After all, outside of the Grand Slams, he has only played six all year.
While this is a commercially difficult situation for the tour – imagine trying to maximize TV rights and sponsorship while your best player rarely makes an appearance – there is no doubt that this has worked for the world number 1.
So there are titles to be picked up by the rest of the dressing room during Djokovic’s latest absence before he returns to action at the Paris Masters in November.
While acknowledging Djokovic’s brilliance, my former top-10 friend also made the point that the Serb will soon be closer to 37 than 36, and that there should actually be more genuine challengers to his superiority than there are now are.
However, the numbers suggest that he is becoming increasingly distant from a pursuing pack that is only becoming more intimidated by his aura.
Djokovic’s record against fellow top 10 players over the past twelve months stands at 19-3. The most celebrated of the defeats came in the Wimbledon final against Alcaraz, a result he overturned the next time he asked in Cincinnati.
The others were against Holger Rune at the Italian Open and Daniil Medvedev in the Dubai semi-finals in February.
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in an epic Wimbledon final, but the Spaniard is one of the few players who has been able to stop the Serbian’s progress
Given his dip in form after Wimbledon, there seems little prospect of Rune repeating the feat anytime soon. And lately, with no Grand Slam in sight to prepare for, Djokovic’s results in Dubai have been mediocre by his stratospheric standards.
Moreover, his record improves compared to the top 10 in most cases. Djokovic’s strategic masterclass in the US Open final showed he knows how to beat Medvedev, taking advantage of his preferred back position.
In the early stages of their rivalry, Medvedev had a 4-5 record against him – now it’s 5-10.
Stefanos Tsitsipas won two of his first three meetings with Djokovic, but has now lost ten on the rebound. Alexander Zverev won two of their first four matches, but is now 4-8.
As for Andrei Rublev, Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz, they are no closer to solving the Djokovic conundrum as they have amassed a collective record of 1-15 against him. Building a body of work against the Serbian remains the most difficult task in tennis, trying to eliminate weaknesses that hardly exist even at his advanced age.
Stefanos Tsitsipas won two of his first three meetings with Djokovic, but has now lost ten on the rebound
Daniil Medvedev has lost five of his last six meetings against Djokovic, including the US Open final at Flushing Meadows two weeks ago
Despite his current problems, Rune still boasts a 2-1 record, and Nick Kyrgios – who is on course to return to Australia in January – has the same mark.
It remains curious that the active player with the best record against Djokovic is the Czech left-hander Jiri Vesely, who is 2-0 despite a ranking of 300.
Perhaps it will take a gradual rupture of his aura to break the current dominance, or a wave of injuries in someone heading into middle age. Or perhaps it would take winning an Olympic gold medal – the one thing that has proven elusive – to see Djokovic’s insatiable appetite diminish.
Maybe something for the rest of the locker room to discuss as they strut around China while the cat is away.
Broady’s rise is a victory for the good guys
It is sometimes difficult to maintain a level-headed detachment in this job. One such occasion was Liam Broady’s arrival in the top 100 for the first time – and not just because Liam is an upbeat, authentic character who is interested in a range of topics beyond the reach of most athletes.
Personality aside, it has been a story of perseverance on a grand scale as he was identified as a prime candidate early in his teens and it took him until the age of 29 to get through this.
A look at the various outposts where he collected most of his points – Vilnius, Winnipeg, Doha, Canberra, Koblenz – shows a ruthless willingness to travel wherever necessary, and is an example to others. His achievement is partly due to the help of a loyal coach, Dave Sammel, who has shown remarkable dedication to the cause.
It’s not every week that British tennis gets a new entry into the singles top 100, although Jodie Burrage also noted this recently. This is an important milestone, and hopefully direct participation in Grand Slams will now become a permanent fixture for both.
Liam Broady has cracked the ATP top 100 for the first time in his career
Postcard from a life on tour
What will be your lasting memory of the 2023 Laver Cup? You probably don’t have one, given the lackluster field and time difference in Vancouver. There is certainly nothing like the lasting image from London 2022 of Rafael Nadal comforting a tearful Roger Federer as he left the sport.
The closest memory I took away from this year’s event – a one-sided affair in which ‘Team World’ defeated a hopelessly weakened European team – was the sight of Roger watching Hubert Hurkacz and Andrey Rublev play doubles, and put in a good performance. fist of interested look.
No wonder Federer is making noises about taking over as European captain. Him versus Andy Roddick might just add some spice to an event that seems to need it.