The 2024 season has been a forgettable campaign for Novak Djokovic. Apart from a subpar 16-6 YTD, Djokovic has also failed to reach the finals in any of the tournaments he has participated in. With his latest move of withdrawing from the French Open 2024 quarterfinals, the Serbian superstar has snapped an impressive 6-year streak.
With Novak Djokovic expected to miss the entirety of July after injuring his knee, he will be finishing the first half of the 2024 season with no silverware to show. The last time that Djokovic was trophyless in the first half of the season was 6 years ago.
The elbow injury that he sustained during the mid-2017 season could be blamed for his disappointing performance during the first six months of 2018. While the 24-time Grand Slam champion was still recovering from the injury, he did participate in 8 tournaments before July 2018.
In 2024 as well, Djokovic has participated in considerably fewer tournaments, i.e. 6, but it had nothing to do with injuries.
However, the then-31-year-old managed to turn around his 2018 season in the second half. Despite not being touted as one of the favorites, Novak Djokovic displayed his resilience by winning the Wimbledon Championships. He also dominated the US Open 2018, lifting the title at the Arthur Ashe Stadium as well.
With the virtue of winning four titles, i.e. 2 Grand Slams and 2 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in the second half of that season, Djokovic managed to redeem himself and regain the World No.1 spot.
Novak Djokovic believes he will get back on the ATP Tour as soon as possible after posting on Instagram on Thursday that he has had a successful knee surgery.
In the past day, I had to make some tough decisions after sustaining a meniscus tear during my last match. I’m still processing it all but I am happy to update you that the surgery went well.
I am so appreciative of the team of doctors who have been by my side… pic.twitter.com/RYLeR5KW2P
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) June 6, 2024
Djokovic could take inspiration from his 2018 season to turn it around in the second half. However, it won’t be that simple a task this time. It is important to keep in mind that Djokovic is significantly older – age 37 – and the recovery time might be longer than what it took him 6 years ago.
The Serb could miss important events such as those in the grass court season and the start of the hard court season. Hence, potentially missing out on a longer duration could result in Djokovic tumbling down in the standings even further. So skipping ATP 1000 events such as the Miami Masters and the Madrid Open might prove very costly for him.
Impact of Novak Djokovic French Open Walkover and the Road Ahead in 2024
Novak Djokovic will lose 1,600 points after the French Open 2024 concludes. With Jannik Sinner already overtaking him as the World No.1, Carlos Alcaraz is gearing up to move ahead of the veteran for the World No.2 ranking. But for that, Alcaraz will have to beat Sinner in the semifinals and win the final of the French Open too, which is possible but an uphill task.
Djokovic’s other rivals such as Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Alexander Zverev of Germany will fancy their chances of moving up the rankings if the Serb continues to be out of action.
Considering that Djokovic is expected to be out for 3-6 weeks, the 24-time Grand Slam champion might not get a chance to participate in two of the biggest tournaments of the year – the Wimbledon 2024 and the Olympics 2024.
Novak Djokovic will have surgery today on his knee.
He will very likely miss Wimbledon because the recovery is about 3 weeks.
He might be able to play the Olympics if he can get well in time.
Awful news for tennis.
Hopefully he’s able to play the Olympics. It’s always been… pic.twitter.com/6ZvcKDrXb7
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) June 5, 2024
It’ll be interesting to see how Novak Djokovic approaches a major injury at this stage of his career. However, being a fierce competitor, fans can expect him to become competitive again and emerge stronger from setbacks he has faced this year.
