A person who follows Novak Djokovic says that the interruptions in training over the last two days – half an hour of practice on Friday and another half hour on Saturday, before retiring to the locker room – may be due to slight discomfort in the neck area. And, if so, the origin may be in the weight of the gold medal he won three weeks ago in Paris. “It was a moment of pride to feel it around my neck; probably the most intense feeling I have had on a tennis court,” the Belgrade native told reporters, who after winning everything there is and will be in his sport, is still hungry. Anyone who might think that the last historic morsel could have satisfied him, 37 years now, is very wrong. What lies ahead, he says and repeats, is too juicy to settle for.
“My goal is always to win, and that thought hasn’t changed this season. I still feel the drive, I still want to make more history and enjoy the circuit,” he replies, knowing that if he manages to win the title for the fifth time on September 8 in New York, he would equal the record of the modern record holders – Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, in sequential order – and, above all, break the tie at 24 majors with the Australian Margaret Court. This last challenge is more than succulent, so he doesn’t plan to take his foot off the accelerator, contrary to what is suggested by those who suggest that the Olympic zenith may have dampened his appetite. More selective than ever, but as ready as ever for battle, he anticipates: “I play on Monday (against Radu Albot, in the early hours of the morning in Spain) and I can’t wait to be under the lights. The noise and energy of this stadium are simply different to any other stadium.”
The glitter of the Flushing Meadows nights inspires the Serbian tennis player, who in turn accepts the role of mirror for present and future generations. Djokovic says that he wants tennis to continue gaining followers, as well as that his tenacity can serve as a reference for the figures that are coming; he also assumes that his credit will run out with the passage of time, and that therefore, regardless of what he can continue achieving, more or less trophies, a greater commitment awaits him from now on. A very personal matter, undoubtedly structural: the PTPA (Professional Tennis Players Association). Old fox, he quotes the acronyms when an American reporter asks him about the Sinner caseknowing that the response will have more echo than any other of this last media intervention. Combative by nature, he points, points out and portrays the system. Loud and clear, he denounces the fissures.
For some time now, Djokovic’s ambition has gone beyond trophies and directly affects the system. Driven by a union spirit that has earned him the support of many players on the circuit, who find in his union proclamations a more altruistic will than that of the other totems, he intends to intervene and redesign the operation through the organization that he founded precisely four years ago in New York. Then, having already distanced himself from the Players Council (Players Council) of the ATP – after having presided over it from 2016 to 2020 – announced to the world that he and his people would truly look after the rights of professionals, regardless of their status. In short: tennis belongs to the tennis players. Translated: a larger slice of the economic pie and greater decision-making power for the protagonists, more aid for the more modest players and the significant increase in the number of those – around 400 today, he estimates – who can live off it.
The player, ahead
Despite his denials, the creation of the PTPA is nothing more than a full-blown challenge to the current governing bodies of the racket – ATP (men), WTA (women) and ITF (international federation) – and a maneuver to make things work differently, so he insists on the deficiencies following what happened with the processing of Sinner’s positive.
“Cases like this are the reason why we founded the association. ethos (of Greek origin, something like the defining features of a community) of the PTPA is the player, to represent 100% the rights of the players and to make sure that we cover all the possible corners so that they can live off our sport. I think that we need to improve it,” he adds. “We are talking and working on many issues. I think that the PTPA has not yet been recognised as we would like, for many reasons that I will not go into now,” he continues. And he goes on to add: “Regarding Jannik, we advocate for fair and clear protocols, and for a standardised approach to this type of case. I understand the frustration of some players about the lack of consistency (referring to the fact that the Italian has been able to continue competing, despite the fact that the anti-doping test revealed the irregularity in March). As I understand it, his case was basically resolved at the time it was announced, but I think it was five or six months since they gave the news to him and his team.”
Djokovic believes, following the steps of other tennis players of more or less weight who are speaking out, that there has been a failure in substance and form, that not all professionals are measured by the same yardstick and that timing “There are many problems in the system. We see a lack of standardised and clear protocols. I can understand the feeling of many who wonder if they are treated in the same way. Hopefully the governing bodies of our sport can learn from this and improve for the future. I think collectively there needs to be a change, that is obvious. There have been similar, identical or almost identical cases that have not had the same outcome, and now the question is whether it is about the funds, whether a player can afford to pay a significant amount to a law firm to handle his case in a more efficient way. I don’t know. I think it is something we need to investigate collectively,” he says.
Flag bearer for his country at the 2012 Games, Nole now stands as a defender of his colleagues and calls for a new, fairer, or at least more equitable order. All of this, of course, without losing that eternal appetite to continue lifting trophies and displaying medals. After Olympic glory in Paris, he is back on the asphalt of Queens.
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