WIMBLEDON, England — Listen to Novak Djokovic’s opponents explain why he is as successful as he is — why he will begin his pursuit of a fifth consecutive and eighth overall Wimbledon championship on Monday; why he also will be attempting to win an Open era-record 24th Grand Slam trophy over the coming fortnight on the All England Club’s grass courts — and they’ll offer plenty of answers.
His return of serve, the best in the game. His two-handed backhand, so reliably potent. His elasticity. His stamina. His defense.
Then there’s his ability to read someone else’s intentions, get to where a ball is headed and send it back with force, a combination Casper Ruud described this way after losing to Djokovic in the French Open final earlier this month: “He sort of just goes into this mode where he just becomes, like, a wall.”
Listen to Djokovic explain why he’s done what he’s done and why, at age 36, he’s still doing it, and he’ll offer a reason far less tangible and far less observable, something he mentioned during his victory speech on the red clay of Roland Garros a few weeks ago.
“I try to visualize every single thing in my life and not only believe it, but really feel it with every cell in my body. And I just want to send a message out there to every young person: Be in the present moment; forget about what happened in the past; the future is something that is just going to happen,” Djokovic said. “But if you want a better future, you create it. Take the means in your hands. Believe it. Create it.”
Speaking that day about his own hopes and dreams as a 7-year-old kid, Djokovic noted two primary goals: getting to No. 1 on the ATP Tour and winning Wimbledon.
He has already been No. 1 for more weeks than any man or woman in the half-century of computerized rankings for professional tennis. Now he will try to pull even with Roger Federer by earning title No. 8 at the oldest of the four Grand Slam tournaments. Djokovic is one ahead of the injured Rafael Nadal — and three ahead of the retired Federer — for the most singles majors won by a man, with 23.
“Those two guys,” said Djokovic, who practiced at Centre Court on Thursday, “were occupying my mind for the last 15 years quite a lot.”
His 23 is the same number Serena Williams ended her career with last season; only Margaret Court, who won 24 across both the amateur and professional eras from 1960 to 1973, has more.
“Grand Slams are the goal. I don’t know how many, but I think he has in his body a lot more,” said Djokovic’s coach, Goran Ivanisevic. “It’s fascinating to see, because sometimes you think, ‘OK, now you have 23.’ But he’s going to find, again, some kind of motivation to win 24, maybe 25. Who knows where is the end?”
Entering the 2011 season, the so-called Big Three’s Slam standings looked like this: Federer with 16, Nadal with nine, Djokovic with one.
After winning his initial major title at the 2008 Australian Open, Djokovic went through an 11-major span when four of the losses came against Federer or Nadal in a semifinal or final. His self-confidence waned a bit.
“That’s where I was really doubting myself, whether I could do it or not, because you get far but then you fall on the last hurdle,” Djokovic said. “The more times you kind of fall, the more you question everything, you know what I mean?”
And yet, with the same tenacity he uses on a court — “The mental fortitude he has is unbelievable,” was how his first-round opponent in Paris, Aleksandar Kovacevic, put it — Djokovic dug in away from the court and found ways to improve. And still does that, which is part of why most consider him, and not No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz, the favorite as Djokovic continues to pursue the first calendar-year Grand Slam by a man since Rod Laver in 1969.
So where did this belief come from?
Djokovic points to several factors: his upbringing during a time of war and embargo in Serbia in the 1990s; his parents (“95-plus% of people … were laughing at them, and were discouraging them to spend whatever is left over from the family budget into such an expensive sport,” he said); his first coach and “tennis mother,” Jelena Genčić; and a later coach and “tennis father,” Niki Pilić.
All helped him grow as an athlete and person.
When he was 7 or 8, Djokovic said, Genčić would show him video of the best male and female tennis players. She also taught him “the importance of relaxing and listening to classical music, reading poetry, singing, and reading, breathing consciously and so forth.”
His mother, he said, “is a rock,” and his father “instilled in me such power of belief and positive thinking.”
That, as much as any particular shot or talent, is why, Djokovic said, “On a daily basis, I’m the best on the court.”
It’s why he has won 11 of the past 20 men’s singles titles at the majors. And it’s why he avoids wading into any debate about the best player ever.
“I don’t want to enter in these discussions,” Djokovic said. “I’m writing my own history.”
Wozniacki will return
Caroline Wozniacki, a former No. 1-ranked player on the WTA Tour and the 2018 Australian Open champion, is returning to competition three years after she retired to start a family.
The U.S. Tennis Association said it will grant Wozniacki a wild-card invitation to participate in the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 28 in New York. She also is receiving a wild-card entry for a tournament in Montreal in August ahead of the year’s final Grand Slam, and she intends to play in the Australian Open next January and hopes to represent her native Denmark at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Another aim: She wants to show it is possible to combine motherhood with a career.
Wozniacki, who turns 33 in July, has not played an official match since losing in the third round of the Australian Open in January 2020. A month before that, Wozniacki had said it would be the last tournament of her career.
She and her husband, former NBA player David Lee, have a 2-year-old daughter and an 8-month-old son.
“Over these past three years away from the game I got to make up for lost time with my family, I became a mother and now have two beautiful children I am so grateful for. But I still have goals I want to accomplish. I want to show my kids that you can pursue your dreams no matter your age or role,” Wozniacki wrote Thursday on Twitter. “We decided as a family it’s time. I’m coming back to play and I can’t wait!”
She was the world’s No. 1 women’s tennis player for a total of 71 weeks — first reaching that spot in 2010 — and won 30 events on the WTA Tour, including the first Grand Slam singles title for a player from Denmark when she triumphed in Australia. Wozniacki twice was the runner-up at the U.S. Open — in 2009 to Kim Clijsters and in 2014 to good friend Serena Williams, who retired last year — and reached the semifinals at Flushing Meadows three other times.
She announced in October 2018 that she has rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune condition that can cause pain and swelling in the wrist and other joints.
“Am I nervous? Not really. I’m coming back to something I love. Yes, I’ll be nervous before a match; I’m OK with that. I’m great with that. Can I win the U.S. Open? I think so. Can I win the Australian Open? I think so,” Wozniacki wrote in a first-person piece for Vogue magazine posted Thursday. “That’s why I’m doing this. And I guess we’ll see what happens.”
She wrote about speaking to women “who gave up on their own dreams because they wanted to be with their families, but somewhere deep down they have this yearning to do something they’re passionate about.”
Wozniacki continued: “I want to show those women that maybe there’s a way. It’s certainly not easy to find the right balance — and I’m so lucky to have a supportive husband and supportive parents, and the help of a nanny — but I think it’s possible. I want to prove that to myself and to those women. You can have both: You can be thrilled with your family and with everything at home and still have a career — and be great at it.”
Wozniacki said she began hitting tennis balls last year, and after her father — who was her coach for much of her career — agreed she was striking shots well, she “knew” she had to return.
“How long will I be able to play at my highest level — a year, two years, three years? I don’t know. But I know that five years from now, when the kids are in school, it will be too late,” she wrote. “I’m not going to make any bold predictions — but if I didn’t believe in myself, I wouldn’t be doing this: I’m too competitive to just show up and not feel like I’m going to be one of the best players out there.”