The end of an era? Djokovic is noticeably behind his earlier performances this year

Last year was a year of victories and breaking records for him. The rookie Djokovic even attacked the calendar grand slam. So far this year, however, the Serbian tennis player hasn’t had much reason to rejoice. What does this mean for him and when will we see him on the courts again?

Djokovic last year

The year 2023 seemed to be clearly in the sign of this playing legend of the white sport. The rookie Djokovic enjoyed the joy of winning seven tournament triumphs and defending his position as world number one.

You never win it all and even Djokovic wasn’t 100 per cent last year. The defeat in the Wimbledon final, where Alcaraz finally rejoiced after a five-set battle, was definitely felt. It was Wimbledon that the Serb fell short of winning the calendar Grand Slam.

The thirty-six year old native of Belgrade was defeated by Jannik Sinner at the final Tournament of Champions. But only in the group stage match. Djokovic then succeeded in the final.

The overall balance spoke clearly. Over the past year, Djokovic won 56 matches with only eight defeats.

The new reality

Yet there are also signs of something new in last year’s results. These are the matches against the tennis players of the upcoming generation and especially the defeats by them.

The Serb was beaten by Denmark’s Rune, Spain’s Alcaraz and Italy’s Sinner last season. The latter managed to beat Djokovic twice.

And Sinner is continuing that practice this year. On his way to his first career Grand Slam, the Italian beat Djokovic again. In the semifinals.

The bottom line is that the world number one hasn’t recorded any triumphs this year which, with the small number of tournaments he’s competing in, inevitably means a ranking problem.

Taking into account the points earned this year, Djoker belongs to the twelfth position. Apart from Sinner, he was beaten by Alex De Minaur and, surprisingly, in March also by the Italian Nardi, a player from the second hundred of the ATP rankings.

Monte Carlo

The first of the highlights of this year’s clay court season starts this weekend. Monte Carlo will not see the expected start of Rafael Nadal, but Djokovic will not be missing from the starting line-up.

And more than enough great tennis players will be welcomed by the aforementioned Masters tournament. So Djokovic will have the chance to prove where he really stands at the moment.

Source: ATP