I Think I Can Hang with the Big Guys

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday October 13, 2024

There are still plenty of positives for Novak Djokovic to take despite the fact that he failed to bring home his 100th career ATP title on Sunday in Shanghai. The 24-time major champion, who fell to Jannik Sinner, 7-6(4), 6-3, says that the 100th title was never a big focus for him in terms of goal-setting.

“It’s not live-or-die type of goal for me, I think I’ve achieved all of my biggest goals in my career,” the 37-year-old told the media after his loss on Sunday. “Right now it’s really about slams and about still seeing how far I can kind of push the bar for myself.”

Djokovic says he believes he can still match up with the top talents on the ATP Tour, Djokovic has gone a combined 1-3 against Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in 2024, notching a legacy-defining win over Alcaraz in the Olympic Gold medal match that made his season. He was defeated soundly by Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, and has lost both contests with Sinner, in the Australian Open semifinals and today in Shanghai, while winning just one set.

“As long as I perform the way I performed actually this week, I think I can go toe-to-toe with the big guys,” He said, adding: “As long as that’s the case, I guess I’ll still feel the need to keep on competing, and motivation to be out there, and let’s see how long that’s going to last for.”

The Serbian icon says he is still fueled by his passion for tennis and his competitive fire. He plans to continue pushing for the biggest titles in tennis in 2025. His tone these days could be described more as hopeful than confident, which is a stark difference from where he was in 2023, when he won three of the four majors on offer.

Nevertheless, the hope springs eternal. 

“My main motivation comes from love and passion for the sport, and also the desire to keep competing,” he said. “These are kinds of matches and challenges that I still strive for, to be in a position to play against the best players in the world, on the biggest stage, in the finals of some of the biggest tournaments in the world.

“That’s what I work for and why I still keep on pushing myself. That’s all that can be said about that. I don’t know what the future brings, I’ll just try to kind of go with the flow to see how I feel in a given moment. I still plan to compete and play next season and, yeah, let’s see how far I go.”