Novak Djokovic gives himself a reality check as loss to Jannik Sinner confirms ‘worst season’ | Tennis | Sport

Novak Djokovic subjected himself to a brutal reality check after losing the Shanghai Masters final to Jannik Sinner.

The 37-year-old played some of his best tennis of the season in China. But he was no match for the world number 1 on Sunday and never even got a deuce on the Sinner serve.

Afterwards, Djokovic confirmed that 2024 had been one of his “worst performing seasons” as he questioned whether he could win another Grand Slam title.

Although he fell at the final hurdle, the Shanghai Masters was one of Djokovic’s best performances this season. By his standards, 2024 was a disappointing year, marred by early exits from some of the biggest tournaments.

But the world number 4 took the only title he really wanted, beating Carlos Alcaraz to win his first Olympic gold medal in the summer. His other two final appearances ended in defeat: Alcaraz defeated him at Wimbledon and Sinner won their showdown in Shanghai 7-6 (4) 6-3.

Sunday’s loss only reinforced Djokovic’s gloomy thoughts about his year so far. “Well, I mean, compared to most of my seasons in my career, this was one of the worst performing seasons in terms of results,” he said.

Despite his gold medal victory, the 37-year-old wondered if he had reached the point in his career where he could no longer cross the line to win the biggest titles.

He continued: “But you know, there would come a point where I wouldn’t win any more slams and wouldn’t be able to maintain that top level for so many years in a row.

“And that’s okay, I’m happy with my gold medal at the Olympics, that was the main goal for this year. And you know, of course I wish I could have at least achieved a Grand Slam title or a could have won a big title but it’s fine, you know, it is what it is.”

But Djokovic is satisfied with his career, even if it is becoming increasingly difficult to compete with the top young guys.

“It’s a kind of season that you just have to accept and embrace, and I’m more than happy with what I’ve achieved throughout my career, so I’ll just, yeah, see what the next challenges bring me,” he said. added.

Djokovic will still leave Shanghai with a good feeling about his performance. He explained: “Well, I think there are quite a few positives that I can accept.

“First of all, I think the level of my tennis this tournament was very good, probably the best after the Olympics in terms of how I played, how I performed and how I fought.

“I did my best tonight. Under the circumstances I may not have felt 100 percent fresh, but at the same time I had a lot of praise for Jannik because he played the big points better than me, and that made the difference. He deserved to win , he was just too strong at important moments.

“But nevertheless, I still think I played quite well even in today’s final, so that, I think, gives me reason to believe that I can still play with these guys who are the best in the world in terms of football.” Hopefully I can maintain that level in the coming months, but also for the future.”