So many difficulties, so many disappointments, physical problems and, in the midst of all this, one of the sweetest moments of his career: Novak Djokovic had not accustomed his fans to such moments of difficulty in what was the craziest season of his glorious career. The incessant advance of age, perhaps the loss of motivation, a few too many physical ailments, have led the Serbian champion to live one of the worst seasons of his career, from a physical point of view, sweetened by the Olympic gold medal, a dream pursued all his life.

For the second time since 2011, Nole will not win a Slam title for an entire year. The 37-year-old Serbian champion, despite the recent victory at the Olympic Games in Paris, the only joy of his gray year, had a 2024 marked by many difficult moments.

The elimination in the semifinals at the Australian Open, the withdrawal in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, due to a knee problem, the final clearly lost by Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon, and finally the shocking defeat in New York, where his path stopped in the third round.

To find a similar situation, we have to go back in time to 2017, when Djokovic was conditioned by a serious elbow problem. His year began with one of the most unexpected defeats of his career, against Denis Istomin, in the second round of the Australian Open.

At Roland Garros he was eliminated by Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon instead his ordeal began due to physical problems, which also led him to give up Flushing Meadows. In short, a crazy season, 2024, if compared to all the other years of his career.

At the press conference after the defeat to Alexei Popyrin he analyzed:

“It was one of the worst levels of tennis I’ve ever played and the level of service was by far the worst ever if you play on a fast surface like this without your serve, with a lot of double faults you can’t win, especially against guys who are in great shape like Alexei who puts a lot of pressure on your serve. I can’t say if the fatigue of Paris made the difference, maybe that played a role. I used a lot of energy to win the gold and I arrived in New York not feeling too fresh mentally and physically. But obviously it’s the US Open, I wanted to give myself the opportunity and give my best. I didn’t have any physical problems, I just felt without strength and that showed in the way I played. Life goes on, now it’s time to think about what’s to come.”