Novak Djokovic is now last of ‘big three’ standing and must find new motivation

As Jannik Sinner defeated Novak Djokovic in Shanghai, thus extending his lead at the top of the world rankings to a massive 4,000 points, tennis royalty looked on.

This title clearly applies to Djokovic himself, who was powerless to respond when Sinner swung one final ace – his eighth of the match – towards the courtside hoardings to seal his win.

But that was not the end of it. Sitting in the front row, Roger Federer could be seen comparing watches with Carlos Alcaraz, who is both the reigning Wimbledon champion and the only man to beat Sinner more than once this season.

These two giants had come to see Djokovic fight for the 100th ATP title of his career, and also to check whether Sinner could continue to drive home his supremacy in this fascinating rivalry.

As it turned out, he could. This 7-6, 6-3 victory was Sinner’s fourth in five meetings with the old master, and continued the pattern of a season in which Djokovic has generally – with one important exception – been unable to cope with the leading talents of the next generation: specifically, Sinner and Alcaraz, who split 2024’s four major titles down the middle.

That exception came in the final of the Paris Olympics, where Djokovic pulled on his ultimate game face to edge past Alcaraz and end a 20-year Olympic jinx. His first gold medal meant so much to him that he called it the “biggest achievement in his career”.

Otherwise, though, Djokovic has lost eight out of nine sets against Sinner and Alcaraz this year, starting with what proved to be a season-defining meeting with Sinner at the Australian Open in January. In the semi-final of that event, Djokovic unexpectedly “laid an egg” – to borrow one of John McEnroe’s favourite phrases – as he sprayed unforced errors in all directions.

Djokovic now finds himself in a fascinating position. He has achieved every goal, except perhaps the 25th major that would put him above Margaret Court in the all-time standings. But nobody seriously believes that Court’s record, which was gained at a time when few overseas players travelled to Melbourne for her native Australian Open, is the equal of his.

How does he now motivate himself for the new season, especially after the last of his contemporaries – Rafael Nadal – announced his imminent retirement on Thursday? As Djokovic said that day: “It’s a bit overwhelming for me. I don’t know what to make out of it. I still enjoy competing but part of me left with them, a big part of me.”

The off-season will be telling, because it takes huge commitment to put yourself through all the physical work required to get ready for the new year in Australia. And there must be a question mark over whether Djokovic can beat these young pretenders over the best of five sets.

Even in his breathtaking performance in the Olympic final, he was working supremely hard to blunt Alcaraz’s all-court game, eventually edging the match by a 7-6, 7-6 margin. Had he needed to win another set, his 38 years might have started to tell.

On Sunday in Shanghai, Djokovic played a strong first set but was less clinical at the net than Sinner, and also found himself overpowered on his formerly world-beating backhand side, where Sinner averaged 71mph to his own 68: a small difference, perhaps, but one that adds up over the course of a match.

While Alcaraz is a conjuror with phenomenal sleight of hand, Sinner is much more of a Djokovic disciple, relying on an almost mechanical consistency of line, length and pace. As a player, the last thing you want is to face someone who plays a similar style to you, but at a slightly higher level, which is exactly what Sinner has been doing to Djokovic of late.

Sinner is still awaiting the appeal in his controversial doping case, after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said that they will be appealing to the Court of Arbitration For Sport against the “no fault or negligence” ruling that he received regarding two positive tests for Clostebol – a banned steroid – in March.

On the tennis court, though, he is in the ascendancy, with only Alcaraz, who has won all three of their meetings this season, able to crack the code. Sunday’s win made Sinner the fourth man to collect seven or more ATP titles in a season in the past decade, after Djokovic, Federer and Andy Murray.

During the presentation ceremony, Sinner paid a gracious tribute to Djokovic. If you looked hard enough, though, there was a very faint subtext of: “Aren’t you getting a bit old for this now, mate?”

“So nice to see you still playing incredible tennis,” said Sinner. “I wish you all the best, not only for this season but trying to stay healthy next season and hopefully to see you as long as possible on the big stages.”

As for Djokovic, he thanked Federer for gracing the match with his presence. “I’m not used to seeing you in the stands, I wish you were here on the court playing with us. It’s probably the first time that I played in front of you so I had an added pressure.”

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