Imagine that you are 38 and still the third best player in sport as criminal as tennis. Ask any other athlete if they would complain – probably not. Will Novak Djokovic be satisfied with it?
Being third is not a problem. The challenge is the third in the race of two men dominated by modern gladiators Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
“What you did at Majors this year would probably be the envy of every player on the tour – with the exception of two,” said journalist Djokovic after he was after him gave the defeat of a direct set from Alcaraz In the semi -finals of the US Open 2025.
“What are your thoughts about what you have achieved and whether it will be enough for you in the future?” The journalist added and asked the 24 -time Grand Slam champion.
Soon we’ll get to Djokovic’s answer. Let us first expand this statement.
Happy to be not. 3?
Four semi -final performances this year, three defeats either Sinner or Alcaraz. For the first time in eight years, the Djokovic season will complete the Grand Slam final.
It’s all about motivation, right? When does the legends bow – if they wake up and believe they have nothing to give, nothing more to prove, nothing else to fight? Or when their bodies simply can’t dance to the melody of their ambitions?
Djokovic never hid his hunger for No. 25. Unlike the other three members of the three large three, he never slipped the milestones. For someone to be better than the best, he couldn’t win Slam and wait for no. 25 for two years will stab.
Does djokovic still have enough fuel to hit the side of sincaraz? At the age of 38 it can be too far away. And in 2026, a challenge is growing – Alcaraz and Sinner do not slow down, and Djokovic does not seem to be ready to find the level needed to solve these reddish -brown opponents.
If 2025 is evidence, djokovic no longer has to have legs to handle the threat of sincaraz.
But how do you tell someone who fought – and defeated – two of the largest, who ever played sport, Federer and Nadal, to stop believing that he could still survive or predict sinner and Alcaraz?
“I lost three out of four banging in the semifinals against these boys (Sinner and Alcaraz). They are just too good, playing really high,” Said djokovic and answered the question We previously discussed.
Novak Djokovic says Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are too good:
“I lost 3 out of 4 slams in the semifinals against these boys. They’re just too good.”
“The best of 5 is very difficult for me to play them. Especially in the final stages of Grand Slams.”
(via the US Open Press) pic.twitter.com/cfztzaww8g– tennis letter (@tetensletter) September 5, 2025
When Nole decided to give up!
In the US Open semi -finals were flashes of brilliance. Djokovic still resisted faith and raced into the net to get a shot from Alcaraz Drop and hit one of the best winners below. Yet the lack of beliefs and gentle delicacy forced many people to be surprised: Is the end approaching?
For someone who won two sets, he looked effortlessly, Djokovic was given up without a fight in the third set, it was hard to watch.
After breaking in the first service game, he hung up and prevented Alcaraz to attack over a set. In the second he led Djokovic 3-0 and looked ready to become the first man to go to Alcaraz this year on Flushing Meadows. Yet he could not keep the pressure and Alcaraz finished the work in only 2 hours and 23 minutes.
After the second set of Tiebreaker lost, Djokovic seemed to give up. Over the past two weeks, Niggle had been in his throat, and in the third set it clearly caused trouble when 2-6 was destroyed.
Yes, Djokovic could still mask the decreases of reflexes and pace with his extraordinary predictive skills based on the years of hard work and hours of study. But it wasn’t enough against Alcaraz. It was not enough against Sinner in London and Paris.
On Friday, Djokovic continued its recently adopted tactics of maintaining short rallies, although it was against its strengths. He knew that the beautiful brutality of Alcaraz Forehand would punish him if he missed his thumb. That is why it crawled into its usually perfect strokes into its usually perfect blows. He served and volleyball and lacked strength on his serving for problems with Alcaraz, 16 years of his junior.
Hurdle Hinder is harder
If Alcaraz, which he defeated when he was injured in Melbourne eight months ago, looked too far away, Sinner promises to be even harder. Djokovic has suffered direct losses At his last two meetings with the Italian world No. 1. It had to feel as if he were facing a younger version of himself.
Alcaraz is as good as anyone on a tour. However, it has a phase of inconsistency that someone like Djokovic or Sinner could use. Sinner, however, rarely decreases its level. As a rival Alexander Bubilik said last week that Sinner is “nothing but an AI -generated algorithm that is unable to spoil at all.”
“Unfortunately, after the second set I ran out of gas. I had enough energy to keep up with him for two sets. Then I just went. But he continued,” Djokovic said about his semifinals.
Djokovic who promised to give the best Dust the final hype Sincaz Before the semifinal he sounded more defeated when he talked about the challenge to face young weapons.
“That’s what I felt with Jannik this year (also). The best of five is very difficult for me to play them. Especially if it’s the final phase of the Grand Slam,” he said.
It’s a dilemma for the Serb. But he is not ready to pull out the plug.
“We’ll see. I have to deal with it (the inability to combine Sincaraz over five sets) with my team. This is the sentiment after the Grand Slam season this year. That doesn’t mean I skip the Grand Slams.
“But I like my chances a little more in the top three, weekly tournaments or championship tournaments where you have two weeks with a few days between matches. So you know it could serve me better in matches,” he said.
The love that has long escaped him
There is motivation – in the form of love from the crowd that he missed for a long time, someone who has never been a favorite fan outside Serbia. For most of his career, Djokovic was beneficial as an antagonist in front of wrapped crowds.
The crowd of New York was firmly behind the Serb on Friday. Even those who did not want to overcome Federer’s 20 years could now take root his 25.
“I’m still enjoying the excitement of the competition. Today I got a great support from the crowd. For that very grateful.
It will be appropriate if the crowd collects it to do special things when he returns next year. Imagine the voice crowd Melbourne, who pushes him to stretch his limits in the semifinals against Alcaraz.
Yes, the dream of victory 25 is alive, but without full belief. You cannot exclude it, but it may take something extraordinary – and whether it is due to the biggest player to have ever seen sport is doubtful in Djokovic’s control.
– ends
Published:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
September 6, 2025
