Novak Djokovic’s season has started in the best possible way. The Serbian star won the Adelaide ATP 250 and won his tenth Australian Open despite a left hamstring injury. The 35-year-old from Belgrade fulfilled the predictions made the day before by dropping just one set at Melbourne Park, where he has not lost since 2018.
His level has risen exponentially since the round of 16, as De Miñaur, Rublev, Paul and Tsitsipas. In addition to reaching his eternal rival Rafael Nadal in Grand Slams 22, Nole has returned to the top of the ATP rankings, unseating Carlos Alcaraz from his throne after 20 weeks of reign.
Goran Ivanisevic’s protégé has shown that he is still the strongest player at the moment and many believe that he can once again aspire to the ‘calendar Grand Slam’ (a feat he was close to achieving in 2021, when he fell just one target victory).
After passing the first round of the ATP in Montpellier, the French Quentin Halys recalled his match against Novak Djokovic played in Adelaide. With nothing to lose, he put in a great performance, surrendering in two tiebreaks after a good fight.
“I’m proud to have challenged a legend like Nole Djokovic, but I’m not satisfied. Although at first you just have to look good against these champions, there comes a time in your career when you want to beat them. I have to win as many matches as possible to face them regularly and keep improving,” Halys explained at the press conference.
The Frenchman regrets his match against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round of the Australian Open: “That day I didn’t I went out well on the track. I was not good, I moved badly and I could not put him in trouble in the first two sets.
In the third it was a little better, but the situation was already compromised. I feel I could have done more”. Novak Djokovic is expected in the United States, as stated by Tommy Haas, director of the first Masters 1000 of the year, Indian Wells, where the world number one appears on the entry list.
Djokovic is the man to beat
Novak Djokovic will be the benchmark for all other players on tour throughout the remainder of the 2023 season. “I think that it’s definitely going to be Djoker vs everyone else this year,” Brad Gilbert said on the Holding Court with Patrick McEnroe podcast.
“If I had to set an over-under, I’d say two-and-a-half Slams for him. He’s getting better at 35. But now, Djoker, I believe, has gone to another elevation where he’s making these adjustments in his game to the Tsitsipas’s, to the Alcaraz’s, to all the young players that are pushing him. That is probably in some sense going to add time on his game.”
