Exclusive: Alex Corretja doubts Novak Djokovic will complete 2024 Golden Slam - ‘It’s going to be tougher’
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Published 19/12/2023 at 11:37 GMT
Novak Djokovic enjoyed another stellar year in 2023 after winning three Grand Slams out of a possible four, following victories at the Australian Open, Roland-Garros and Flushing Meadows. Wimbledon was the only Major missing from his collection last year, and with the Olympics taking place next year, Djokovic could win that tournament and the four Grand Slams to complete a Golden Slam.
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Alex Corretja believes Novak Djokovic should not be focusing on completing a Golden Slam heading into next year’s Australian Open.
A Golden Slam would see Djokovic win all four majors – the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open and the Olympics – in a calendar year.
Despite Wimbledon being the only missing Grand Slam from his selection this year, Corretja feels the Serbian will be faced with much stronger challenges in 2024.
“I think that would be a little bit surprising [to win a Golden Slam] because even if he improves his game so much, he's getting older,” said Corretja.
“It's normal that he is getting older and the recovery is not the same. But at the same time, he's got the experience and he's just focused on the important tournaments and the ones that he feels are going to make a difference in his life.
“I'm sure that he's going to keep on winning Slams, but it's going to be tougher and tougher and he knows that.
"And in a way, I feel the match that he lost against [Jannik] Sinner in the Davis Cup might be good for him.
“It's a wake-up call to say, ‘okay, I'm doing unbelievably, but I can't relax for one second because some of the guys behind me, are going to push me so much. They're very dangerous and they know they can beat me now.’"
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The Spaniard believes that Djokovic is still the man to beat as he looks for an 11th Australian Open title.
However, he is expecting the likes of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev to push him harder Down Under.
“He is the main favourite; I think it's going to be one of the most Australian Opens we had in the last few years, because we have several players that can do very well and are playing their best, physically," he added.
“They're growing, they're getting stronger. And mentally, it is pretty much the first time you have players who believe they can do well in a best-of-five slam, and sustain their level for a long time.
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“After three, four matches they were already exhausted. But now I think you have players that they can really cause problems to Novak [Djokovic]. And that's what I think is going to be probably the most open Australian in the last years.
“I'm sure. I'm sure that [Carlos] Alcaraz is ready to do well. I'm sure that Sinner is going to be ready to do well. [Daniil] Medvedev, [Alexander] Zverev [Holger] Rune, [Andrey] Rublev have been playing very well too.”
Corretja feels that the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas cannot be ruled out, while Sebastian Korda or Ben Shelton could make a challenge.
“Tsitsipas also likes to play in Australia and some of the young ones that might surprise us, like [Sebastian] Korda and [Ben] Shelton," he said.
“It's not going to be any easy to beat them.”
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