Mumbai: The last time Novak Djokovic played a competitive singles tennis match, he spent quite a while bent down in pain. Often, he vomited into towels as he struggled with the heat and humidity at the Cincinnati Masters.
“Whenever Novak enters any tournament, or a Major, he’ll be in it with a shot. “I always think that as long as he’s in the draw, there’s a chance. “(It causes) a lot of issues, especially when it is humid and it is hot.
Yet, he refused to walk away mid-match, losing 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 against world No. 50 Thiago Agustin Tirante in a match that lasted two hours and 44 minutes. In 2024, he played in 12 tournaments, which included the triumph at the Paris Olympics and a single Davis Cup match. In 2025, he played in 13 tournaments. But in an injury-laden 2026, he has played in only three competitions so far, including the opening round loss at Cincinnati.
Because he truly must believe that he can still do it, that’s one of the reasons he’s still playing,.
“I know a lot of people are retiring me already, for many years,” Djokovic said in the documentary. Not just once, not just here, he’s done it every place, and at the highest levels,” Roger Federer, one of Djokovic’s great rivals, said ahead of the US Open. “It’s just a condition that I have, health-wise, that has been bothering me for the past couple of years,” Djokovic said after losing to Tirante.
Since that triumph in New York in 2023, the Serbian’s Grand Slam results include two third round finishes, one quarter-final, six semi-finals and the 2024 Wimbledon and 2026 Australian Open finals. These results include a walkover (to Casper Ruud in the quarter-final of the French Open in 2024) and a mid-match retirement (against Alexander Zverev at the 2025 Australian Open semi-final). It also includes four defeats to current world No.1 Sinner and three to Alcaraz.
As it stands, he is the world No.5. He may not be the overwhelming favourite, yet he remains a player who cannot be written off. And at the US Open that begins on Sunday, he will compete as the fourth seed.
