Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is playing some of his best tennis of the year at the ongoing 2022 ATP Finals in Turin this week. The Serb has won both of his round-robin matches in straight sets and qualified for the semifinals. Novak’s serve has been one of the most important contributing factors to him tackling the fast conditions in Turin.
On the Inside-In podcast, former World No. 1 Jim Courier compared the longevity of the Serb to NFL legend Tom Brady’s and revealed that Djokovic was not an average 35-year-old.
“So it looks like he has all of his options again and his 35-year-old body is not the average 35-year-old body and I could easily see him playing for Tom Brady like years,” said Courier.
Courier also believes that Djokovic has started using his kick serve once again for the first time post his elbow surgery in 2018.
“I’m really excited about him and as fans is that he’s started to hit that kick serve again which had disappeared after the elbow surgery. So that’s another part of his arsenal that he can bring in and get people off the ad court where he’d been largely just hitting more body serve and slice serves to seemingly protect his elbows,” Jim Courier added.
“I know that people sometimes think I’m fake” – Novak Djokovic
Despite his astronomical success in tennis, the Serb doesn’t enjoy the same level of fandom compared to his rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion addressed the subject and revealed that some people consider him fake but he believes that he is genuine and also commented on the harsh media treatment he received at the 2022 Australian Open.
“I know that people sometimes think I’m fake, that I do certain things because I want to be loved. It’s not like that, I’m just trying to be genuine. It’s something we’re losing. It is not possible to please everyone but by now the politically correct forces us to give up expressing our ideas with respect, without hatred, but with freedom. Freedom of speech for me today is just an illusion,” Novak Djokovic said.
“I had an extraordinary example of this year with what happened to me around the vaccine issue. I expressed myself for the freedom to be able to dispose of one’s body, and immediately I was accused of being a no-vax, which I am not. If you don’t belong to a certain way of thinking, you quickly become the bad guy. That’s no good,” the Serb added.