Novak Djokovic’s ‘longevity’ comments suggest he’s ‘playing a percentage game’ says Mats Wilander
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Published 24/03/2023 at 09:06 GMT
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is “playing a percentage game”, according to Eurpsport expert Mats Wilander, after the Serbian revealed he is targeting longevity in the final part of his tennis career. Djokovic is 35 years old and Wilander says he still “looks young”, so could win another two to five Grand Slams. One more major would see him surpass Rafael Nadal in the so-called ‘GOAT race’.
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Eurosport expert Mats Wilander believes Novak Djokovic is “playing a percentage game” after the Serbian revealed his “objective is longevity” in the final part of his tennis career.
Djokovic turns 36 years old in May, ahead of the French Open, where he will hope to win his 23rd Grand Slam to move ahead of Rafael Nadal in the so-called ‘GOAT race’.
One of Djokovic’s biggest rivals, Roger Federer, retired in September at the Laver Cup at the age of 41.
“Right now, it’s Grand Slams and longevity," Djokovic told CNN. “We focus on ambitions, achievements and goals, which is of course super important, but I always try to remind myself about and talk about my passion and love for the game.
“There is no pressure to keep going. Right now, I’m celebrating my 20th year in professional tennis so I’m experienced enough and have achieved enough, but at the same time, what is enough? It’s never enough and you always want to do more, so I have that mentality.”
Asked about what Djokovic's comments meant, Wilander told Eurosport’s Arnold Montgault: “I think he's playing a percentage game right now.
“With longevity, that means he's going to win another two to five Grand Slam titles because his average is obviously more than one Grand Slam victory per year. I think he's up at 1.3 or 1.4 Grand Slam victories a year since the first day that he won the Australian Open.
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“I think he knows ‘if I just stay healthy, I'm going to have my opportunities and I'm going to be winning more Slams’, whether it's at Wimbledon, whether it's even at Roland-Garros, of course, the Australian Open, and then as well at the US Open.
“Longevity means, ‘hey, guys, I'm not old, I feel young’. He looks young, and he's going to be winning majors as long as he's healthy.
“He's going to win, on average, one Grand Slam title per year that he still keeps playing. I think that's what he's telling us.”
In the same interview with CNN earlier this week, Djokovic admitted he was “p****d off” at times at having to play in the same era as Federer and Nadal.
Djokovic broke the deadlock of Federer and Nadal by winning the 2008 Australian Open, which marked the start of a career spanning a decade-and-a-half as one of the top players on the men’s tour.
Wilander understands how he feels, having played against the likes of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg.
“I think we understand exactly what Novak's saying,” explained Wilander. “There is no way that Novak Djokovic would have had that same drive, ambition maybe, motivation, without Federer and Nadal.
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“You have to be motivated to get up every single day and practise really hard and look after yourself.
“Then you have to try and win every single match the whole year in your whole career because that's what Roger and Rafa did.
“I think Novak has proven that not only does he have ambitions to be the best of all time, he's motivated big time to be the best of all time, but at the same time, he loves his job and he wants to keep playing for a long time.”
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