Novak Djokovic is virtually outside the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, where he lifted the trophy last year by beating local idol Jannik Sinner in the final. The Serbian champion has not won an ATP title this year and his short schedule helped to drive him away from the top positions. The former world number 1 did not shine particularly even in the Grand Slam tournaments, reaching the final only at the Wimbledon Championships.

The 37-year-old from Belgrade has just been through a poor US Open elimination against Australian ace Alexei Popyrin, who took advantage of his opponent’s very negative day to win in round three. During the press conference, Novak admitted that he played a bad tennis in New York this year and never found the best sensations.

Although it hasn’t been a great season so far, Nole has made one of his biggest dreams come true by winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. The 24-time Grand Slam champion played the best match of his 2024 final against Carlos Alcaraz, who was clearly favored to win the gold medal on his favorite surface. That match also affected the mind of Carlitos, who was eliminated prematurely in both Cincinnati and the US Open.

Nole needs ATP points

Djokovic will need a strong season finale to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. The former world number 1 will play the Shanghai Masters 1000 after several years of absence and the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000, but it is not excluded that he can add some other tournament to his schedule. The Serbian legend may decide to play in Vienna or Basel.

During a long interview with RTS, the 24-time Grand Slam champion reflected on his amazing triumph at the Paris Olympics this year: “The main reason is that I had the opportunity to represent Serbia once again in a very important global sporting event. The other reason is my Olympic career. I lost to Nadal in very close semifinals in Beijing, then I lost two more semifinals, and also lost the battle for third place. Those were some of the toughest defeats of my career.

The Olympics only happen every four years. I came to these Games without having won any titles earlier this season. I had knee surgery, I am 37 years old, I defeated an opponent who had just beaten me at Wimbledon… All of that makes it very special. It’s the greatest set of emotions of my career, it’s hard to describe it in words.”

At 37, Novak’s career is very close to its conclusion. The former world number 1 will try to win at least one more Major next year, but it won’t be easy to achieve this feat against much younger opponents than him. In a recent interview with EuroNews, Toni Nadal opened up on the GOAT debate: “Who played better? Federer. Who is the best? Djokovic. Because Djokovic won more titles than the others. Who could be the best without injuries? My nephew. But he has injuries so at the end, the best is Djokovic.

So in my opinion, from what I have seen on court, when Federer plays, no one beats him. You are born with a natural talent, but at the same time you need to work hard,” he added. “Only with natural talent, normally it is not enough. It is very difficult to achieve the goals that Federer achieves. Or to be Messi, it is almost impossible. You can be a very good tennis player or a very good football player when you are willing to work very hard.” Novak has broken many records in the last decade: he is the player who won more Grand Slam titles, more Masters 1000 and holds the record of weeks at the top of the ATP ranking.

The relationship with Kyrgios

During the latest edition of the ‘Tennis Insider Club’ podcast, Australian ace Nick Kyrgios paid tribute to Nole: “The fact that I played a Slam final with Novak at Wimbledon is crazy, because we’re so different that now we’re like friends and it’s amazing and I get to hit with him and help him, it’s pretty cool. I never thought that I’d be really good friends with Novak Djokovic at all, and it’s not just on the courts. It’s like, we text each other, we send ridiculous memes and all this stuff on Instagram.”

Kyrgios and Djokovic did not have a good relationship until a few years ago, with the Australian who had been harshly criticizing the Serb during the COVID period. The two champions faced each other in the 2022 Wimbledon final and – since then – their relationship has improved a lot.