Time for Djokovic to exit gracefully
- Thread starter socallefty
- Start date
Luck was involved?
The levers on a guy nearly 7ft tall will mean that he can generate huge power
Quarter-finals in Australia, third round at Roland Garros, quarter-finals at Wimbledon and third round at the US Open, are my predictions for a Djokovic very close to retirement in the Major tournaments.
Time forgives no one.Nah he needs to stay and take some beautiful L's
Fans of a certain player are always the last to accept that their favorite will never be the same again.
Top 15 or top 20 will be Djokovic's ranking at the end of the year.
From now on he can lose to anyone in best-of-five-set tournaments.
His defeat to Popyrin in NY was just a prelude to similar results awaiting the Serbian player in GS tournaments; it is inevitable.
a10best
Legend
Don't be trapped within those boundaries. Records are always broken, like 14 slams with Pete, or winning 13 slams on clay.
Fed & Rafa were two greats who had chronic injuries from age 33 from so many finals and Fed the more offensive player lost his precision as he aged.
Djokovic was the best ever defensive player (now Alcaraz is) yet Djokovic's training and nutrition is still legendary.
I don't think he will another slam only because of Sinner and Alcaraz.
Maybe some other random dude not named Popyrin will beat him. IDK, maybe Rune.
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Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
And that's the difference between a great player and a GOAT
I was reacting to the post saying that Medvedev at nearly 29 has already past his peak age.
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
Yes I'm aware. And my answer followed that.
Djoko, Federer, Nadal and Murray (to a lesser extent) were all able to 'beat' Father Time for a while because their baseline game is so good that they could give up a little speed/explosion and still beat basically everyone else.
But non-ATG talents can't do that. So because we're spoiled on B3/4, we don't realize what we're looking at. TPas is going through the same thing. His body has declined a small amount and now he can't hit his BH through the court. Medvedev has lost what made him a wall. Zverev holding up the best but he's on borrowed time as well
mike danny
Bionic Poster
There will always be two sides to losing while having MP's as much as Djokovic fans dislike to hear it.
mike danny
Bionic Poster
It lasted longer than people think as Pete didn't retire on the spot after winning his last GS. He waited a year for that so even he didn't think too much of retiring on top.
Sudacafan
Bionic Poster
I am among the people who think the USO 2002 final was his last match.
Not a chance.
mike danny
Bionic Poster
It was, but he didn't officially announce retirement on the spot after winning it.
Mustard
Bionic Poster
Correct. At the time of Sampras winning the 2002 US Open, he intended to take the rest of the year off (Bridgette was pregnant and gave birth in November 2002), but Sampras fully intended to be back playing in 2003. He entered many events in the early months of the year and pulled out of them. Sampras started training for 2003 Wimbledon for about 2 weeks in May, but gave up because he wasn't feeling it. When Sampras then decided not to defend his US Open title, he decided to retire, and there was a retirement ceremony at the 2003 US Open.
beltsman
G.O.A.T.
Sure, but in in the past, one of Djokovic's strengths was absorbing pace.
messiahrobins
Legend
He will retire this year, that i can tell you is a definite. So as much as he is a rival of our GOAT Nadal career wise, we should make most of Novak as its only a few months we will get to see him (i.e Up to post USO). Bookmark this post as Djokovic fans will argue about retirement, but just bookmark this for later this year.Bc I don't watch his matches lol so it's not like I'm "seeing" him lose. All I know is he's around and playing and I want him to failan L is good for business bc he shouldn't even still be on tour.
zakopinjo
Professional
Hitman
Bionic Poster
Gracefully?
Djokovic has said very openly that he wants to be beaten and bruised in the early stages of multiple slams in a row to remove any doubt that he left something on the table. He doesn't want any regrets.
It also is good for his haters, for the years of misery he gave them, they can't take his records from him and give to their favs, but at least they can get a little enjoyment watching their tormenter getting beaten into retirement.
Expectations for Djokovic need to be realistic, right now, he is still very much a contender for slams, as long he feels that, he will keep going.
I keep hearing about Sampras going out on top, but Sampras retired while preparing for Wimbledon, while intentionally not playing anything post USO 2002, because he didn't have the desire for it, and he himself has stated that he regrets it somewhat because he doesn't know for sure if he had anything left.
Djokovic has said very openly that he wants to be beaten and bruised in the early stages of multiple slams in a row to remove any doubt that he left something on the table. He doesn't want any regrets.
It also is good for his haters, for the years of misery he gave them, they can't take his records from him and give to their favs, but at least they can get a little enjoyment watching their tormenter getting beaten into retirement.
Expectations for Djokovic need to be realistic, right now, he is still very much a contender for slams, as long he feels that, he will keep going.
I keep hearing about Sampras going out on top, but Sampras retired while preparing for Wimbledon, while intentionally not playing anything post USO 2002, because he didn't have the desire for it, and he himself has stated that he regrets it somewhat because he doesn't know for sure if he had anything left.
gamelovergold
Semi-Pro
Expectation with novak is more than what was with fedrer and nadal. Olympic gold has atleast given hope that fire is still burning. And always want to add that stars must align for novak. Some help from divine is always welcome
DSH
Talk Tennis Guru
No, it's better that he keeps playing for a long time to witness the beatings he's going to receive from Sinner, Alcaraz and company.
DSH
Talk Tennis Guru
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
Novak is the greatest tennis player of all time as proved by you who can only compare him to the combined weight of two great players aka "the Fedal era".
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
Anyone feeling better about his chances after all the hype about Murray being with him in the last week? Brutal draw though with Alcaraz in the QF.
nolefam_2024
Bionic Poster
Nah. Murray changes almost nothing.
What Djokovic needs is to bring back his 2023 form and that can happen or maybe it doesn't. It all depends on how he performs. Not Andy.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
Stick a fork in him? Body looks done and unable to cope with 2-week tournaments anymore.
DSH
Talk Tennis Guru
Rebel-I.N.S
Hall of Fame
Djokovic got a horrible draw and that was his biggest obstacle, IMO.
Calls for retirement are premature.
He just beat Alcaraz on one leg a few days ago…! That was a ‘final calibre’ match.
Calls for retirement are premature.
He just beat Alcaraz on one leg a few days ago…! That was a ‘final calibre’ match.
Sport
G.O.A.T.
"On one leg" in your dreams.
He totally controlled his dolence during that match. It wasn't like the W 2024 F where he was visible hampered. In the AO 2025 QF, Novak was moving freely.
Sport
G.O.A.T.
It depends on his health. I agree it's premature to call for his retirement yet, as he just beat Alcaraz, but his days of winning Slams may be (or not) done. We'll have to see how he performs the rest of 2025.
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Turning Pro
Hall of Fame
He'll be doing backflips like a ninja on Monday, back in full flow training and the moonwalk to boot.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
After seeing the video of him at Doha airport walking like an old man with an arthritic knee and one more early round loss, is it time to say ‘C’est fini’?
Sudacafan
Bionic Poster
I’d love to play tennis as well as him with an arthritic knee.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
TennisTurkey
Rookie
I always thought that Djokovic would have the best life health-wise of the big 4 after retirement because of how well he has looked after his body (the super-disciplined diet, stretching, recovery etc).
Now it looks like he might beat up his body in a quest for a final slam or two.
Now it looks like he might beat up his body in a quest for a final slam or two.
nolefam_2024
Bionic Poster
Nah he is not that bad at all. One knee injury is not enough to screw up life. That is literally nothing for normal life. For tennis yes , it's bad.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
He has put on too much upper body weight/muscle in the last year under his new trainer and lo and behold, the lower body is riddled with injuries!
Sudacafan
Bionic Poster
Still, he’s the one who arrived best to the finish line.
He is still better than the other members of big 4. Federer had knee operation and balding, Murray had hip replacement and balding, Nadal had broken foot and balding. Novak only has muscle tear and still has healthy hair.
It's funny people urge him to retire because prospective loss toward end of career is disgrace. No it's not disgrace: it's a natural course of career. Look at the final years of all the greats: Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, Wilander, Becker, Edberg, Samprs, Agassi, Federer, Nadal, who else... Because they couldn't win as much as they did, do we think less of them now?
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