Tennis legend Bjorn Borg, in an interview with Eurosport, recently lauded World No.1 Novak Djokovic after he won the Paris Masters 2023, which is the 40th Masters title of his career. Borg believes that Djokovic is likely to win another one or two Grand Slams and will be around for a few more years. The multiple Grand Slam winner also compared Djokovic and Nadal’s situations, claiming that the Spaniard’s days in the sport are ‘numbered’.
Bjorn Borg is usually known for being private and very measured in his opinions on players and about the game. So it is unlikely that he meant any offence to Novak Djokovic seeing the comments he made on the Serbian superstar. Borg was quoted as saying in the interview –
“Novak [Djokovic], I think he might win one or two more Grand Slam tournaments.
“Who knows? But he is doing it not for himself but for tennis and journalists. Unbelievable. He’s still pushing the limits. He wants to be the greatest.
“He wants to win more tournaments, break all the records in tennis history. I mean, he is a fantastic player.
“But to have these guys involved with tennis, you never know what Rafa is going to do, maybe play one more year. I don’t know.
“It is up to him mentally or his body or whatever. But Novak is going to be around for a few more years.”
The interesting part of Borg’s comments is that he feels Novak Djokovic is motivated mainly to keep the men’s sport alive. For that, the media needs to publicize him more, which they would when he is successful and around the sport. However, in this case, Borg might be a bit off the mark.
It is because Djokovic is one player who has played the most for himself always and love for the game. Recently, in a press conference, Djokovic admitted that records do motivate him. His hunger to win and willingness to make history is unparalleled in the tennis world at the moment.
With the fact that the youngsters in the game are yet to match up to Novak Djokovic, the Serb does not seem to have any competition especially when it comes to winning Grand Slams.
Carlos Alcaraz beating him in the Wimbledon 2023 final now seems to be just a one-off occurrence. Apart from that loss, in the last 24 months, Novak Djokovic only fell to Rafael Nadal at the French Open 2022 quarterfinals.
So winning just 1-2 Grand Slams only till Djokovic retires, looks extremely unlikely as he can easily vie for more. If he is 100 percent fit, he will once again undoubtedly start off as the favorite to win his 11th Australian Open title in January 2024. Seeing his prowess on clay and grass alike, there could be chances that the Serb wins all the 4 titles next year.
Looking at the way Novak Djokovic considers his mind and body like a temple much like a Buddhist monk, his mental and physical fitness makes him most capable of playing in any court and weather conditions in the world. It is a scary proposition for opponents when Djokovic, even though mostly in a lighthearted manner, said after his US Open 2023 win that he intends to play for another 20-25 years. The mental block that the Serb can inflict on them, combined with his ability to cleverly pick tournaments to play in, is once again not just bought from the supermarket that any player can possess.
Besides his longevity, Novak Djokovic’s success in the absence of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, has made the media go more in his favor. Otherwise, for the longest time, the Serb was not much of a media favorite. With the rise of social media, Djokovic does not need to go to journalists and sing his praises.
And when it comes to his work with the Professional Tennis Players Association, he can anytime quit the sport and just focus on enforcing more player rights in tennis. Novak Djokovic is one player who has transcended wins and losses in the sport so much that he doesn’t ‘need’ to play in it to make an impact. The game too perhaps does not ‘need’ Djokovic breaking more records, but it is better to celebrate those whenever they happen, till it lasts.
Novak Djokovic to finish 2023 as Year-end World No.1 for the 8th time
Novak Djokovic has had a magnificent 2023, overtaking Carlos Alcaraz despite the Spaniard winning more titles and playing more number of matches than him this year. The Serb clinched the year-end World No.1 ranking with a win over Holger Rune in the ATP Finals round robin match. Seeing his form, Djokovic is primed to win the title as well, which would be another all-time record, since it would become his 7th title win.
The home favorite, Italy’s Jannik Sinner is all set to play Novak Djokovic on Tuesday next, in perhaps the biggest match of the season. Djokovic is also on a 19-match winning streak across all competitions in men’s singles events in professional tennis, having last lost to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. He is all set to remain World No.1 at least till the end of January 2024.
