Time for Djokovic to exit gracefully

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
It seems like the time for Djokovic to retire has come finally. He used to be unbeatable in Australia, but nowadays he loses to the likes of DeMinaur and Opelka. He had a bad 2024 except for the Olympic swansong and now is off to a poor start in 2025. He should exit the stage gracefully before every Tom, Dick and Harry notches wins against him. Andy Murray is not the coach to help him and it looks like he doesn’t want Goran back while his old physio is in Sinner’s camp.

C’est fini!
 
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Mainad

Bionic Poster
It seems like the time for Djokovic to retire has come finally. He used to be unbeatable in Australia, but nowadays he loses to the likes of DeMinaur and Opelka. He had a bad 2024 except for the Olympic swansong and now is off to a poor start in 2025. He should exit the stage gracefully before every Tom, Dick and Harry notches wins against him. Andy Murray is not the coach to help him and it looks like he doesn’t want Goran back while his old physio is in Sinner’s camp. C’est fini!

Do you think Goran would have stopped him from losing to Opelka?
 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Do you think Goran would have stopped him from losing to Opelka?
Yes. He wouldn’t have had a bad 2024 either. Djokovic had good game plans against each opponent under Goran and served very well. Last year his serve level dropped and he just seemed to have a base game plan against everyone in every match. His BH has slipped enough where he needs to have a gameplan to hit FHs more aggressively and rally on that wing more against most players. But the lack of an elite serve is really costing him as he needs to hold serve comfortably without expending energy that he can then devote to return games.
 
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Purestriker

Legend
It seems like the time for Djokovic to retire has come finally. He used to be unbeatable in Australia, but nowadays he loses to the likes of DeMinaur and Opelka. He had a bad 2024 except for the Olympic swansong and now is off to a poor start in 2025. He should exit the stage gracefully before every Tom, Dick and Harry notches wins against him. Andy Murray is not the coach to help him and it looks like he doesn’t want Goran back while his old physio is in Sinner’s camp.

C’est fini!
Ha! If he loses in the first or second round of the AO, then yes. But I wouldn't give up just yet. He is rusty and needs some matches under his belt.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
Djokovic is just old. He is playing with the old tactics and not going to make changes at this late stage.

EX his second serve. Frequently dips down to 130s slice out. This works well vs next gen guys who stood deep but not vs Ultra aggressive plays that new gen guys play with. For those who know 130 kmph is 80 mph.

This is bad guys. Bad.
 

Purestriker

Legend
Djokovic is just old. He is playing with the old tactics and not going to make changes at this late stage.

EX his second serve. Frequently dips down to 130s slice out. This works well vs next gen guys who stood deep but not vs Ultra aggressive plays that new gen guys play with. For those who know 130 kmph is 80 mph.

This is bad guys. Bad.
An 80 MPH second is not going to cut it, that will have to improve ASAP.
 

tennis3

Hall of Fame
I'm surprised how good he's looked this week. I think he can efficiently win AO early rounds and have enough left in the tank to make a run at the title.

I never read anything into any players performance against a serve-bot. Playing a serve-bot is always very strange tactically.
 

Sport

G.O.A.T.
It would be a wise decision but somehow I don’t think he will be any different than Federer or Nadal. He will keep on playing until he can’t win anymore.
I think maximizing your options and trying everything you can (even if it results in a last year full of losses) is much better than retiring earlier and constantly wondering about "what if?", à la Sampras.

Federer and Nadal retired when it was absolutely obvious they would win no more Slams. Djokovic is not at that stage yet, though he may be gradually getting closer. Novak retiring in January 2025 after his OG last year would be like Sampras retiring short after winning the USO: an early retirement IMO.
 
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nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
This sounds like what Nadal fans were saying last year before he would lose in the 2nd or 3rd round all year long.
Djokovic is not that bad because he is fit.

But he is looking like a 5-8 Berdych guy right now. Which is his ranking.
We got to be serious. Ranking is what it is.
 

tennis3

Hall of Fame
This sounds like what Nadal fans were saying last year before he would lose in the 2nd or 3rd round all year long.
We'll see. His game still looks sharp as ever to me. Question of course is, how will he look in the second week of a Major. Can he still win back to back (to back) tough matches in the (Quarters), Semis and Finals.

Nobody really knows where he is physically now, both considering his age and any injury questions. "If" he can manage it physically, I still see him as the best tennis player on tour still.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
In 2015 he lost to Karlovic in Doha.
Yeah and in a damn good BALL BUSTING match while he was sick.

This is no 2015. Its like living in Haiti post 2011 and now you are adding Civil war to the unrest.

At this stage even a L from Opelka would be very bad after dumpster fire of 2024 but he did not even have a chance in the second.
 

a10best

Legend
I don't think he minds much losing in a 500 or United Cup, At this age, it's warm-up for AO or other slams. Yet, I still don't think he can win another unless carrot & nitrous man lose early or play bad.
 

ollinger

G.O.A.T.
People used to point out to Mickey Mantle that those last miserable injury plagued years dragged his career batting average below .300, down to .297. He replied that he enjoyed himself and was glad he played those years.
 

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
Djokovic is just old. He is playing with the old tactics and not going to make changes at this late stage.

EX his second serve. Frequently dips down to 130s slice out. This works well vs next gen guys who stood deep but not vs Ultra aggressive plays that new gen guys play with. For those who know 130 kmph is 80 mph.

This is bad guys. Bad.
Those 75 mph powder puffs worked just fine in 2021 Wimby final.
 

tennis3

Hall of Fame
Yet, I still don't think he can win another unless carrot & nitrous man lose early or play bad.
You think they would both need to lose? In other words, you don't think he can beat them?

I think he can still beat them both. He's way "smarter" than everyone else on tour and really knows how to win. But he will struggle playing them back to back
 

timnz

Legend
It seems like the time for Djokovic to retire has come finally. He used to be unbeatable in Australia, but nowadays he loses to the likes of DeMinaur and Opelka. He had a bad 2024 except for the Olympic swansong and now is off to a poor start in 2025. He should exit the stage gracefully before every Tom, Dick and Harry notches wins against him. Andy Murray is not the coach to help him and it looks like he doesn’t want Goran back while his old physio is in Sinner’s camp.

C’est fini!
Throughout Djokovic’s entire career he has lost against a lower ranked players. If so,should have he, according to your statement, “exited Gracefully’ then? Eg in 2017 and first 1/2 of 2018? he is a great champion, only he knows when it is time to go. I suspect he is simply not match fit as he didn’t play much in late 2024.
 
As of now its looking very simply Fed 2019 better than current Djokovic.
Fed is a one of one talent who had worse movement in 2019 than Djoko does now, but was standing on the baseline half volleying everything and on serve was serving at 113-118 mph but was hitting lines and the serve was unreadable. 1.38 DR and nearly 55% TPW is ludicrous.

That said, Djoko will have big moments this year and one will come at this year’s AO.
 

MeatTornado

Talk Tennis Guru
Like every other player in history at his age, he'll have his days where he looks awful and days he still looks great.

2024 was a disaster of a year for him, yet it was still a top 10 finish with a Gold Medal and a Wimbledon final. Wouldn't you sign up for that again? He took more losses to randos in Bo3, but who cares? As long as he's still in with a chance to win majors, there's no reason to go anywhere.
 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Throughout Djokovic’s entire career he has lost against a lower ranked players. If so,should have he, according to your statement, “exited Gracefully’ then? Eg in 2017 and first 1/2 of 2018? he is a great champion, only he knows when it is time to go. I suspect he is simply not match fit as he didn’t play much in late 2024.
He had an elbow injury in 2017-2018 and it took him a while to recover even after surgery. He was also still around 30 at that time. Now he looks healthy, but just doesn’t seem to have the game anymore and it has been that way for a year except for some brief stretches in 2024. If he can serve like he did in 2023 when Goran was his coach, I would not advocate that he should retire. But now his efforts look futile to win long tournaments and as a fan of tennis, I don’t enjoy legends like the Big 3 losing a lot to players in their last year on tour.
 

tennis3

Hall of Fame
The last time I can recall him playing "full out" at an event outside of the Majors is 2023 Cincy (except for the Olympics of course). He obviously wanted to prove something to himself (and everyone else). Otherwise, I'd never judge his level based on his play in any BO3 tournament.

I'll be very interested to see how he looks physically in AO and the other 3 Majors this year

Now he looks healthy, but just doesn’t seem to have the game anymore

Interesting. You actually think his tennis game has declined but that physically he's fine (good enough to win a Major?). I'm the exact opposite.
 

a10best

Legend
You think they would both need to lose? In other words, you don't think he can beat them?

I think he can still beat them both. He's way "smarter" than everyone else on tour and really knows how to win. But he will struggle playing them back to back
older and smarter ends up losing against great great talent in every sport. His edge against them is far gone. Djokovic was healthy last year and those guys were nursing little injuries and carrot had the mental strength to defeat the media's accusations. Plus the other young gen are improving. His days are gone and people need to stop thinking it is 5 yrs ago. Yet I appreciate his accomplishments, his game and mind.
 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
You actually think his tennis game has declined but that physically he's fine
In 2023, he had the highest shot quality on FH and BH amongst the pros while being in the top 3 on serves and returns - as published by the ATP. That’s why he won so much. He has been nowhere close to that level since the start of last year.

It takes a team to keep someone at a championship level for a long time. I don’t know why he completely broke up his team at the end of 2023. But his game has not looked the same since and he had a lot of illnesses and injuries last year in addition to looking unprepared at the USO with a very low-% on first serves and lackluster footwork leading to errors galore.

All I said is he is healthy now and we are not aware of any injuries. But he needs to play close to the level of 2023 on all his shots if he wants to win Slams as Sinner and Alcaraz are better and have more of an unbeatable aura at their favorite Slams now. If he is nowhere close to the level needed to win Slams and he is not motivated (as you say) to win Bestof3 tournaments, this is going to be his last year on tour anyway and he might as well retire early in the year. I was hoping that his shot quality and serves would look improved after the long break in the Fall/Wimter of 2024, but it doesn’t seem to be the case if he is losing to the likes of Opelka while getting broken, losing a TB and not posing a threat at all on returns.
 

kevin qmto

Hall of Fame
Nah he needs to stay and take some beautiful L's 8-B
At this point this is all I can hope for with Djokovic. He already has all the records, so the only way I can claw some entertainment out of him is if he decides to stick around far too long and take a bunch of L’s against journeymen.
 
Djokovic might never win another title, amazingly stuck on 99!
He didn't win a title in 2024, apart from the Olympics which he won despite never breaking Alcaraz's serve... and Alcaraz had 8 break points on Djokovic's serve :oops:
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Djokovic might never win another title, amazingly stuck on 99!
He didn't win a title in 2024, apart from the Olympics which he won despite never breaking Alcaraz's serve... and Alcaraz had 8 break points on Djokovic's serve :oops:

Gotta think he can take home at least one Slam/Masters this year though. No Olympics to distract
 

ND-13

Legend
I very much like Djoker to get to 110 titles and most ATP wins , even if it means he takes more losses

Those are some fantastic records I don’t want him to be second or third .

Also if Sinner continues like this, he will probably break the prize money record .

Hopefully he can get 25th to have a unique record to himself.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
I'm actually in shock, I was balls deep in a UTR tournament yesterday & today so I haven't been watching any matches. How the fuq did he lose to the Happy Viking?
 

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
It needs to so he can take the his rightful place back behind Rafa's like it was for most of his career ;)
Nadal's W/L % is artificially inflated. Specially later in his career, he ducked tournaments off of clay where he would've gotten some L's
 

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
It seems like the time for Djokovic to retire has come finally. He used to be unbeatable in Australia, but nowadays he loses to the likes of DeMinaur and Opelka. He had a bad 2024 except for the Olympic swansong and now is off to a poor start in 2025. He should exit the stage gracefully before every Tom, Dick and Harry notches wins against him. Andy Murray is not the coach to help him and it looks like he doesn’t want Goran back while his old physio is in Sinner’s camp.

C’est fini!
I wouldn't read too much into this loss, Novak has always hated playing against guys like Opelka who gives him no rhythm
 

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Nadal's W/L % is artificially inflated. Specially later in his career, he ducked tournaments off of clay where he would've gotten some L's
"Artificially". The whole sport of tennis is an artificial human invention, nothing of it is natural. Tennis is an artificial cultural invention, no part of it is impregned in our genes.
 

inflation_era

Professional
With today's competition I have no doubt Novak can win several more slams. Especially when his two top opponents require knee surgeries and PEDs to beat him.
 

tennis24x7

Hall of Fame
I think maximizing your options and trying everything you can (even if it results in a last year full of losses) is much better than retiring earlier and constantly wonder about "what if?", à la Sampras.

Federer and Nadal retired when it eas absolutely obvious they would win no more Slams. Djokovic is not at that stage yet, though he may be gradually getting closer. Novak retiring in January 2025 after his OG last year would be like Sampras retiring short after winning the USO: an early retirement IMO.
I too feel he has one more GS left and then he will retire
 
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