Goran Ivanisevic has witnessed it happen frequently over the last four years. Novak Djokovic, his star pupil, arrives at the practice court in a bad mood, complaining that his game is a disaster and that he needs to improve at everything. He disregards his remarkable resume, with 24 Grand Slam titles, 74 other tour trophies, and over 1,000 match victories. “He’s crazy,” Ivanisevic said of Djokovic, shaking his head, midway through last year. Djokovic completed yet another fantastic season but persisted in grumbling to his coach. Djokovic is among the very good tennis players who express a desire to improve. But it is one thing to say it and another thing to do it, especially after reaching the pinnacle of the sport multiple times.
In 2015, Djokovic dominated the tennis season by winning 3 Grand Slam finals and an array of other trophies. Yet Djokovic doesn’t play tennis today the way he did back in 2015.
Djokovic launched his 2024 season in Australia, a place he considers his “happy place.” He has reached all four Grand Slam finals in that 2015 season and won three of them. Djokovic went wire-to-wire as the world No 1, playing in 15 consecutive finals and won 11 of them. Despite facing the top players, he managed to come out on top.
Djokovic’s success is also about accommodating his aging body and keeping up with the evolution of a sport that is less friendly to defenders. His game strategy revolves around attack as opposed to defending now. His serve and return serve are faster and landed in better spots in comparison with 2015, reflecting his shift towards an attacking position.
Throughout his career, Djokovic has had three truly epic years, and all of his best seasons share a theme — they get rolling in January in Australia. He has managed to stay ahead of the curve by making a shift towards an aggressive playing style suited for today’s tennis landscape.