"Now He's Overtaken Federer & Nadal": Former World No.2 Believes Novak Djokovic Is Better Than Ever Despite Records

Novak Djokovic is arguably the greatest-ever men’s tennis player in history. The Serbian superstar is dominating the sport with his relentless pursuit of glory. Now at 36, Djokovic is fitter than ever and winning more big titles. With the 2024 season not too far away, Tim Henman expects the World No.1 to keep up his dominance in tennis.

The former World No.2 from Great Britain believes that Novak Djokovic is playing better than he used to in the past, hinting at the time when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were at their best. In an interview with Eurosport, Tim Henman admitted to being impressed by the Serbian’s hunger even at this stage of his career. The former British player believes that Djokovic was chasing rivals Federer and Nadal throughout his career and has now successfully overtaken them, but that hasn’t slowed him down.

“I think for such a long time he’s been chasing Federer and Nadal and all those different records: the number of Grand Slam wins or finishing the year No. 1 or weeks at No. 1… and now he’s overtaken them. I think this is the position that he’s desired for so long. He’s achieved it and he’s playing better than ever.”

Novak Djokovic also remarkably admitted in a recent interview that the 2023 season wasn’t the best-ever year of his career despite making it to all 4 Grand Slam finals and winning 3 of them. Djokovic feels that he is an happy place despite not being satisfied ironically with his performances.

Novak Djokovic is the favorite for Australian Open 2024 according to Tim Henman

Novak Djokovic will enter the Australian Open as the favorite to defend his title according to Henman. The former Brit tennis star believes that the Serbian is more dominant than any other player on tour. Djokovic has successfully beat off competition from the young players and looks set to dominate again. According to Henman, Djokovic played very well after his Wimbledon loss and will be the man to beat at the Australian Open.

“The way that Djokovic then played (after his Wimbledon defeat) for the rest of the year was absolutely incredible. Djokovic’s speed, his balance, his ball-striking, how hard he was hitting the ball, changing direction and not missing. So, 2024, Australian Open in the men’s, in my mind, there’s no doubt that Djokovic is the favourite. He’s the man to beat.”

Novak Djokovic will go into the Australian Open as the favorite. However, the Serbian will face competition from Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Sinner will go into the tournament full of confidence having beaten Djokovic twice at the end of last season. Rafael Nadal could be another challenge for Novak Djokovic, as the Spaniard has announced his comeback after a year-long injury lay-off.

Post Edited By: Dhruv Rupani

Novak Djokovic

About the author

Atharva Upasani

Possessing a Masters degree in Sports Journalism, Atharva is a Tennis Journalist at The SportsRush. Atharva has come a long way from just being a tennis enthusiast to writing more than 300 articles on the sport. He has the 2012 Australian Open final to thank for cultivating within him a strong interest in tennis in which Novak Djokovic beat his favorite player, Rafael Nadal. Besides Nadal, his favorite athletes are cricketer Virat Kohli and Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes.

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