Novak Djokovic has no intention of passing the torch to the next generation just yet, the 36-year-old Serb proving age is just a number by becoming the oldest man in the Open Era to hoist the US Open trophy on Sunday.
With Roger Federer retired and the oft-injured Rafa Nadal ready to call it quits after next season, the days of the ‘Big Three’ are long gone but Djokovic – the final member of that triumvirate – reminded fans in New York that he is far from finished.
His 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 victory over Russian Daniil Medvedev brought him not only a fourth Flushing Meadows title but a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam crown, and Djokovic wants more.
“Occasionally asking myself, why do I need this still at this stage after all I have done, you know? How long do I want to keep going? I do have these questions in my head, of course,” said Djokovic.
“Knowing that I play at such a high level still and I win the biggest tournaments in this sport, yeah, I don’t want to get rid of this sport or I don’t want to leave this sport if I’m still at the top.”
Djokovic swatted side some of the United States’ brightest young stars en route to the final, beating 25-year-old Taylor Fritz in the quarters and 20-year-old Ben Shelton in the semis.
In Medvedev, however, he faced an older foe, and one who gave him the chance to exorcise his demons – two years earlier the Russian had ended his bid for a calendar Grand Slam on the very same court.
Djokovic did not squander that opportunity, smothering the 27-year-old in a series of exhausting rallies. He drew level with Spain’s Nadal when he secured his 22nd major title in Australia and took the men’s record outright when he beat Casper Ruud to hoist the trophy at Roland Garros.
Carlos Alcaraz, 16 years his junior, thwarted his bid for a 24th title at Wimbledon and that defeat prompted Djokovic to suggest that perhaps his time had come, that the next generation was about to overtake him.
But after winning in Cincinnati and scything his way through the Flushing Meadows draw Djokovic showed there would be no changing of the guard just yet.
“You know, players come and go,” he said. “It will be the same kind of destiny for me. Eventually one day I will leave tennis in about 23, 24 years.”
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