Djokovic’s racquet bag is a reminder of who he is. He needs to use it

Source : ABC NEWS

History.

Novak Djokovic loves it. He craves it. And in the world of men’s tennis, he owns most of it.

That history is even printed on his racquet bag, in what could be deemed a monumental flex aimed at letting opponents know just what they are up against before a match even starts.

Olympic gold, tick, 10 Australian Opens, tick, 3 Musketeers Cups, tick, 7 Wimbledon crowns, tick, 4 US Open titles, tick. And his 7 Tour Finals wins are marked off too — in case any opponent needed reminding of the man’s monumental achievements.

Heading into the year’s second grand slam, at Roland Garros, that reminder is something Djokovic needs — desperately.

And that’s not even for his opponents, it’s for himself.

As otherworldly as his career may have been, the undefeated spectre of Father Time is looming large for the 38-year-old Serbian star.

That’s despite winning the Geneva Open overnight to become the third men’s player in history to claim 100 ATP Tour titles. It also makes him the only player to win a title on tour in 20 different seasons.

Amazing feats.

But in truth, Djokovic is struggling for form and consistency.

The Geneva final victory over Polish world number 31 Hubert Hurkacz was a match where Djokovic was mostly behind the former and likely future top 10 player.

His first and second sets were riddled with unforced errors — 29 in total, 17 spewing off the usually solid backhand wing — before he locked into his former self in the third set.

Djokovic was broken in the opening game but was otherwise miserly, with just nine errors in the set as Hurkacz, who appeared to be cruising, won his first 12 points on serve, then suddenly capitulated.

A netted forehand with the court open, a double fault and a missed regulation forehand long helped Djokovic back into the match and break the Pole.

Djokovic was candid but not giddy as he spoke of his 100th title win.

“Hubi was probably closer to victory the entire match than I was,” Djokovic said.

“I was just trying to hang in there.

Second worst start to a season

That subdued celebration speaks volumes, not about the man himself but rather where his game is at ahead of Roland Garros. 

Does a title lift his confidence? Probably. Has the rest of his year been miserable? Yes.

Statistically, 2025 has been the second worst start to a year that Djokovic has had since becoming a full time ATP level player back in 2007 and is only worse than his start to 2018, when he was returning to the tour from surgery.

He went into the French Open that year with an appalling, by his standards, 10-7 win/loss record.

In 2018, he suffered one of the biggest upsets in tennis history when South Korea’s Hyeon Chung outlasted him in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

He then lost to Japanese journeyman Taro Daniel at Indian Wells and fell in Miami to the talented but erratic Frenchman Benoit Paire.

But the biggest shock was when the also-returning world number 140 Martin Klizan rolled him for a career victory in Barcelona — an on-court high for the Slovak.

Other losses to Dominic Thiem in Monte Carlo, Rafael Nadal in Rome and even Kyle Edmund (at that time) in Madrid were acceptable but those failures were for a player on the comeback trail.

But 2025, where Djokovic is now 16-7, has arguably been worse.

It started in Brisbane with a third-round loss to American doubles hater Reilly Opelka, before Djokovic retired hurt from his Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev with a hamstring injury.

The comeback from that went poorly as he lost to Matteo Berrettini in Doha and Botic van de Zandschulp in Indian Wells. Both came in his tournament openers.

A run to the Miami final gave him hope before teenager and noted Djokovic fan Jakub Mensik claimed his first Masters 1000 title.

Novak’s ‘new reality’

But from there, the clay court season had been a disaster until Geneva. He was humbled by Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo in Monte Carlo and destroyed by Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in Madrid.

It was these losses that hit hardest.

First round losses do not happen when you’re Novak Djokovic.

Especially not consecutively and especially not to players who would struggle to be seeded at a grand slam. 

Djokovic himself, it seems, has realised his own tennis mortality and been embarrassed by his form.

After the loss to Tabilo, in Monte Carlo, where some of his worst moments have come, including a withdrawal against Roger Federer, that the Swiss great would later deride him for, the Tabilo loss brought back the memories of the bad old days — before Djokovic had conquered the tennis world.

“Today has been something like my worst day,” Djokovic said in Monaco.

Tabilo at least has won titles. The loss to Arnaldi in Madrid was worse; even the Italian looked like he could not believe what he had just done.

Djokovic stood shocked as he contemplated his new reality.

“Trying to win a match or two, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament. It’s a completely different feeling from what I had in 20-plus years of professional tennis.

“That’s, I guess, the circle of life and the career, eventually it was going to happen.

“Grand slams is where I really want to play the best tennis. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do that in Roland Garros, but I’ll do my best.”

Irony of Olympic gold

The irony of that comment is that Roland Garros may be the place of Djokovic’s last great triumph.

King of clay that Nadal was, he never got the happy ending he wanted there. Ailing from injury, he returned for one last crack at the French Open only to face this generation’s tennis villain Zverev in the opening round and lose.

That was before the Olympics at the same venue, where he was owned by Djokovic before the Serb claimed the gold medal.

Djokovic was giddy at that win and when he beat Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets in the final to join Nadal and Andre Agassi as winners of the Golden Slam it was another piece of history completed.

Djokovic, so long at the top of the sport, had finally broken through the clouds and ascended into the heavens.

His results since have not been the same.

In truth, the decline started in 2024, when he failed to win a major for the first time since his injury-ravaged 2017.

Olympic gold aside, the one tournament win he has had, in Geneva, saw Hurkacz as the only player of note he defeated, especially as Cameron Norrie is no longer the player he was.

Still, it’s history, and Djokovic no longer has a lot to chase. His career has rewritten it.

But what remains may be hard to attain.

The players with more titles are Roger Federer (103) and Jimmy Connors (109) — overcoming either at his current rate appears tough and if we go to his stated goal of the grand slams, history both recent and past is not on his side.

Matching Rod Laver by winning the Grand Slam is a statistical impossibility.

He could match Federer’s 8 Wimbledon titles though, but it should be noted that when Federer lifted his final ever title in Basel, he was 38.

The one other piece of history he could hope to grab is becoming the oldest man to win a slam.

The record is currently held by Australian great Ken Rosewell, who won the 1972 Australian Open at 37 and became the oldest man to make a slam final at the 1974 US Open, aged 39.

At 38, that seems most likely for Djokovic, but his past year says it isn’t going to happen.

Not only are the younger generation not scared of him on the court, but Djokovic has also known for a while that his time at the very top is running out.

It’s why he also changed his game style in recent years to be more aggressive; despite his metronomic ability from the baseline and vaunted stretching routine and commitment to his fitness, he knows the gruelling back-court rallies are a thing of his past.

It is as he put it, “the circle of life”, which is an interesting take because something else in his career has come full circle: retirements.

While Djokovic in his late career is more about preservation than giving up, the last couple of years has seen two abbreviated matches or walkovers for opponents at the sport’s major events.

It’s a sign of age and despite his best efforts of maintaining his body it does raise the question whether he can still perform over the two weeks and best-of-five format of a grand slam, particularly on a hard or clay court.

He withdrew from his French Open quarterfinal with Casper Ruud last year with a significant knee injury.

His subsequent Wimbledon campaign was a near miracle to make the final before being destroyed by Alcaraz, while the US Open saw him uncharacteristically destroyed by Australia’s Alexei Popyrin.

Then came a gruelling Australian Open where he was forced to retire with a hamstring injury in his semifinal against Zverev.

Nothing has really been the same since, but what he found in the final set in Geneva was some of the old Novak.

Tough as nails, miserly and locked in. 

Hurkacz, too, was stunned by it.

He looked up and saw a beast. A man he had never beaten in seven previous attempts and Hurkacz faltered badly.

For the rest of his career but especially at Roland Garros that fear is something Djokovic will have to tap into.

In Paris, he has a cushy draw. A potential fourth round against Daniil Medvedev and a quarterfinal against an out-of-form Zverev is what he’s seeded for.

From there anything can happen — if he remembers who he is and what he is capable of.

Redefining a sport and making history. 

Whether his body allows him to is another issue altogether.