Djokovic exits US Open, but Grand Slam dream alive

But he’s played and achieved long enough to see himself now become a hero. And on Friday night, at a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium, the 38-year-old from Serbia did not have to imagine anything. There were loud, deafening cries of “Nole”.

Djokovic is the most decorated Grand Slams singles player in the Open Era, with an all-time joint record of 24 titles. He has won every important title the sport has to offer. But now he is an underdog with the New Two of tennis – Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz – ruling the roost. And in his latest attempt to get the better of them, world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz ran away a 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2 winner in the US Open semi-final on Friday night in New York.

“Unfortunately, I ran out of gas after the second set. I think I had enough energy to battle him and keep up with his rhythm for two sets,” Djokovic said after the match. “After that I was just gassed out and he kept going. That’s kind of what I felt this year also with Jannik (the world No.1). Best of five sets makes it very, very difficult for me to play them, particularly if it’s like the end stages of the Grand Slam.”

Since he knew he couldn’t compete with Alcaraz physically, Djokovic played more aggressively – attempting the serve-and-volley frequently – to keep rallies short. But that high risk, high reward strategy saw him become more error prone, as he committed 30 unforced errors to pulling off only 15 winners.

For years, Djokovic, Federer and Nadal had defied age and continued their dominance over men’s tennis. By 2022, the Swiss retired with 20 Grand Slams to his name and Nadal decided to call time on his career with 22 last year. Djokovic, currently the world No.7, has carried on.

But just as it had with his two biggest rivals, he is starting to slow down on court.

“It’s quite simple to me,” he said. “It’s frustrating on the court when you are not able to keep up the level physically. But at the same time, it’s something that is also expected. It comes with time and age.”

Having said that, and despite what the rankings suggest, Djokovic – at the majors – is the third best men’s singles player in the world. He has reached the semi-final in each of the four Slams this year. At the Australian Open, he beat Alcaraz in the quarter-final before retiring from his semi-final match against Alexander Zverev with a muscle tear in his left leg. Then he lost in the last four stage to Jannik Sinner at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Still a great year

As one journalist put it during the post-match press conference, semi-final finishes at each of the majors in a single year “would probably be the envy of probably every player on the tour except two”.

“I’m happy with my level of tennis. It’s just the physicality of it,” Djokovic said. “I’m going to do my very best to get my body in shape to sustain that level and rhythm for as many hours as is needed. But it wasn’t enough. It’s something I unfortunately, at this point in time, in my career, can’t control. I can do only as much as I can and it will be very difficult for me in the future to overcome the hurdle of Sinner, Alcaraz in the best of five in the Grand Slams.”

As a player over 30 with over 1,000 matches under his belt, Djokovic has the luxury of picking and choosing his events. But he asserted that he still wants to “play a full Grand Slam season next year”. He added: “Let’s see whether that’s going to happen or not. But Slams are Slams – they are just different from any other tournament. They are the pillars of our sport, the most important tournaments we have.”

On a few occasions, Djokovic has been on the cusp of history in New York. He was on course to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the Calendar Grand Slam (winning all four majors in a year) in 2021, but fell short after losing in the US Open final to Daniil Medvedev.

This term, there was hope that he could get the 25th title, only for it to fade away against Alcaraz. But he isn’t giving up yet.

“I’m going to continue fighting,” he said, “and try to get to the finals and fight for another (Grand Slam) trophy at least.”

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