Novak Djokovic is currently not in the form of his life. Several questions were raised on the 36YO, after his recent loss at the semifinals of the Australian Open to Jannik Sinner. It also ended his 33-match unbeaten run in Melbourne. But the veteran tennis author Joel Drucker heaped praise on Djokovic’s ability to maintain his fitness and be a consistent performer even at this age.
A few days ago, Tim Henman praised the Serb stating he’s ‘still the player to beat.’ Now, the renowned author and legendary tennis historian joins the list with the Englishman during his recent appearance at the ‘Rock n Roll Tennis’ Podcast. He spoke about how Novak Djokovic has taken himself to another level by maintaining his body.
Joel Drucker says Novak Djokovic is like ‘he’s got freaking pit crew’
Although Novak Djokovic didn’t have a great start to his 2024 season, what he did in 2023 was truly exceptional. He won 7 titles last year including 3 Grand Slam titles. Despite his loss at the 2024 AO, he still remains the world number one in men’s singles tennis ranking, and Joel Drucker recognizes the same.
“Novak now is like he’s got freaking pit crew. I mean Novak is about as well-oiled machine if there’s ever been in tennis right. And, you John you were there at the at the start when this happened with people like Martina Navratilova and Ivan Lendl, they were the beginning of the of the scientific management of the game,” says Drucker.
He further added, “I associate Connors, McEnroe, even Borg a little bit with kind of the entrepreneur phase. You know, the startup. His body (Borg) was always, the swimmer’s body is amazing. But later, people like Lendl, Martina they created the template of how a plan you take it 40 years later. Novak’s Unbelievable.“
Despite several comments and analyses on his recent performance, what does the Serbian think about his chances for the rest of the season? Let’s have a look at it.
Djokovic feels there is still a lot of road to cover
Loss at the first Grand Slam of the season is perhaps a bit of warning to the rest of the Tour. Djokovic said, “Doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the beginning of the end, as some people like to call it. Yeah, let’s see what happens in the rest of the season.“
Novak Djokovic will now be traveling to the US in the coming weeks to participate in the ‘Sunshine Double’. Novak Djokovic had last appeared at the Indian Wells almost 5 years ago. Can he bring some fortune to his 2024 campaign by winning a title in California?