Close to two years have passed since Novak Djokovic added to his prolific Grand Slam record, with the Serbian most recently saluting at the US Open in 2023.
At age 38, Djokovic admits that as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz extend their dominance at the top of the men’s rankings – ranked world No.1 and No.2 respectively, the pair have shared the last seven majors between them – a record 25th major feels increasingly out of reach.
“This year has been a real struggle for me physically,” a battle-worn Djokovic conceded after a straight-set sets loss to world No.1 Sinner in the Wimbledon semifinals. “The longer the tournament goes, yeah, the worse the condition gets. I reach the final stages, I reach the semis of every Slam this year, but I have to play Sinner or Alcaraz.”
And yet in his 80th Grand Slam campaign at Flushing Meadows – just one Slam short of the record 81 Slam appearances that Roger Federer and Feliciano Lopez each accumulated – the seventh-seeded Djokovic is still setting records.
Following a straight-set win over rising American Learner Tien in the opening round at Flushing Meadows this year, Djokovic needed four sets to advance against Zachary Svajda. In just over two-and-a-half hours, he emerged with a 6-7(5) 6-3 6-3 6-1 win.
With his 20th straight Grand Slam win over American opponents, Djokovic more notably recorded his 191st hardcourt win at a major. While that number equalled a record held by Federer, he surpassed the Swiss as he booked a 75th appearance in the third round of a Grand Slam.
As he prepares for his next match against Cameron Norrie, Djokovic admits he’s still warming up to best form. “I wasn’t really happy with my tennis for the first part of the match,” he commented after committing 14 unforced errors against Svajda, who was hindered by cramps in the latter stages.
Still, in his 19th US Open appearance since his 2005 debut – the four-time champion missed only the 2017 and 2022 tournaments in that period – the veteran competitor knows that successful campaigns can come down to timing.
Djokovic was asked on court if he felt that round-by-round improvements were likely. "That's what I'm hoping, that was the case for most of my Grand Slam career,” he said. “The deeper I go in the tournament, the better I feel about my game."
Experience has also crystalised Djokovic’s priorities. It’s telling that since he claimed a milestone 100th career title in May at the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva, Djokovic has limited his scheduled to Roland Garros, Wimbledon and this month’s US Open.
Asked if he’d “come in cold” to the season-ending Grand Slam, Djokovic noted, “Obviously I didn't have any matches since Wimbledon, so it is the right term in a sense, but I have put in a lot of training in last three, four weeks.
“I decided not to play because I wanted to spend more time with my family. And to be honest, you know, I think I earned my right and have the luxury of kind of choosing, picking and choosing where I want to go and what I want to play.”
Now almost exclusively targeting Slam success, Djokovic does so with full intensity. “There is always something to prove once you step out onto the court, which is you're still able to win a tennis match,” he noted of his enduring motivation.
“I still love the feeling of competition, the drive that I feel on the court. You know, I get really hard on myself a lot of the times because I expect myself to play always at the highest level, which is obviously not always possible.
“But, you know, I still have desire to compete with the young guys, you know. Otherwise I wouldn't be here playing.”
Djokovic can do so knowing that with Sinner and Alcaraz comparative new starters on their Grand Slam journey – No.1 Sinner, a winner of four major titles and Alcaraz winning five – his record of 24 Grand Slam titles will hold for the foreseeable future.
So too will another record, with a 36-year-old Djokovic the oldest man of the modern era to lift a US Open trophy when he last did so in 2023.
“Obviously in the larger perspective of understanding of what I have been through and what I have achieved in the many years that I have played on the tour, one can always think that there is nothing more to achieve or to prove, because you’ve done it all,” he added.
“But it's quite relative. It's quite individual the way you see it … in a short-term type of mindset and perspective, it's really about trying to make the most out of that day and win a tennis match [and] find a way to win.