Olympia 2021: what’s up with Djokovic? Mysterious break-in, serious rejection

Novak Djokovic has never made a secret of the fact that his career as the greatest tennis player in history will end at some point.

Tokyo was an important stopover on the way to the tennis Olympus.

With his first Olympic title, the Serb wanted to preserve the chance of the Golden Slam and fill a gap. In contrast to his eternal rivals Roger Federer, who won doubles in 2008, and Rafael Nadal, singles champion from 2008 and doubles winner from 2016, he was not yet an Olympic champion.

After this season, so the calculation in the Djokovic camp, the debate about the so-called “GOAT”, the greatest player of all time, should be over.

Bat throw: Djokovic loses his nerve

The reality looks different at first. Djokovic leaves Tokyo with three defeats in a row and a match canceled in mixed doubles.

At the beginning of the third set, the 34-year-old fired the bat on the – luckily – empty ranks. A few minutes later he hit the net post with the racket.

The Djoker lost his poker face – and the match.

Djokovic cancellation hard for partner Stojanovic

Bitter especially for Stojanovic. The 25-year-old was facing one of the biggest games of her career so far. The number 49 in the doubles world rankings, which like Djokovic comes from Belgrade, attracted attention this season with the semi-final participation in the women’s doubles at the Australian Open.

An Olympic medal will not be added this year.

“I very much regret that I did not win a medal for my country,” admitted Djokovic, who is now facing an in-depth analysis.

Question upon question: can Djokovic find the answers?

Djokovic needs quick answers, because the US Open will begin in New York on August 30th – and again the superstar will be talking about history. As the second player in the Open Era after Rod Laver in 1969, the world number one wants to achieve the men’s Grand Slam, i.e. victory in all four major competitions within one year.

It remains to be seen whether the chances of this have decreased with the exhausting Olympic participation. But Djokovic wouldn’t be Djokovic if he didn’t take something positive from the disappointing performance in Tokyo.

Olympia? “I have no regrets at all”

“I don’t regret coming to the Olympic Games at all. I had some heartbreaking defeats at the Olympic Games and major tournaments. And I know that these defeats have usually made me stronger,” said the exceptional player.

Knowing that the Grand Slam would also bring him way forward in the debate about the greatest player of all time …