The inexorable passage of time was noted this year on the ATP circuit, where Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were overtaken by physical problems, opening the door to a collection of records set by Novak Djokovic.
Under these conditions, will the Serb find a rival in 2022 that prevents him from expanding his trophy harvest?
Although the Swiss and the Spanish return with enough guarantees to fight for everything, ‘Djoko’ knows that he will also have to deal with the new wave of tennis players who have already won a multitude of titles this season: first ‘Grande’ for Medvedev at the US Open; two Masters 1000s, a singles Olympic gold and the end-of-year Masters title for Alexander Zverev; first Masters 1000 (Monte Carlo) and first final of a ‘Grande’ (Roland Garros) for Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Looking at the last ATP ranking of the year, a change in trend is perceived: although Djokovic (34 years old) once again finished the year as No. 1 in the world for the seventh year, a record, now he is no longer followed by the usual Federer (40 years) and Nadal (35 years), not necessarily in that order, but Medvedev (25 years), Zverev (24 years), Tsitsipas (23 years), Rublev (24 years).
To see the other two components of the ‘Big Three’ you have to descend to 6th (Nadal) and 16th (Federer). For the latter two, it is not so much their level of play but their physical condition that has weighed down their season.
Youth to power
Djokovic believes he still has some successful seasons ahead of him.
“I think that, without injuries, I will be in a position to decide for myself when the time comes to stop,” he declared on November 15 at the end of the year Masters. “But I do not have the impression that it will be tomorrow … I think I still have several years in my legs, my heart and my head. As long as this is the case, I will continue because I really love this sport and I like to play tournaments ”, the Balkan tennis player continued.
After falling one match away from winning the ‘Big Four’ this year (loss in the US Open final after conquering Australia, Roland Garros and Wimbledon) ‘Djoko’ is aiming for the ‘Majeurs’ record in 2022: he joined Federer and Nadal with 20 to win Wimbledon and will be ‘a priori’ favorite for the next. Starting with the Australian Open, which he won nine times (a record). Reluctant to the idea of getting vaccinated, the Serb is nevertheless announced for Melbourne.
Federer will not be there, Nadal in principle yes, but it is unknown if he will be positive for covid in December. So the biggest threat comes from new talent, as Zverev pointed out: “Young people have made progress this year. Excluding Rome or Paris, the youngsters won all the Masters 1000 ”.
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