Novak Djokovic: He was once great, looked like his career was about to end for 2 whole years, and now looks better than ever. Djokovic has made one of the greatest career comebacks ever. He started out his career by beating people at the top: Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. His rise to the top 10 was a very quick one, and he won many grand slams, ATP titles, and Masters 1000s titles along the way. He looked like he was going to surpass the level of Nadal and Federer.
All of a sudden, in early 2016, Djokovic got injured terribly and was bedridden. He did not play for the next six and a half months. He came back to the courts and tried to play his best, but his magic never came to him. There were three coach changes during this time period as he hoped to have better results with each one. This happened for one and half years, Djokovic seemed to have given up, and it looked as if he had lost his love for tennis.
Australian Open: “Djokovic beats Donald Young. Djokovic beats Gael Monfils. Djokovic beats Albert Ramos Viñolas. What!?” Everyone was astonished by Djokovic’s performance. It was the first time he reached the Round of 16 since 2016. However, his run ended there as he lost against Hyeon Chung, the next match in straight sets. But this sent a signal throughout the tennis world that Djokovic might be back.
Despite his unexpected performance in the Australian Open, Djokovic lost his hype by losing in the early stages for the next couple of ATP tournaments.
French Open: Djokovic beats Rogério Dutra Silva. Djokovic beats Jaume Munar. Djokovic beats Roberto Bautista Agut. Djokovic beats Fernando Verdasco. Djokovic loses to Marco Cecchinato. Djokovic, this time got to the Quarterfinals. He was not joking around. For the first time since his injury, people saw the fire in Djokovic. He was hungry for the trophy; he was hungry for the top 10 rankings.
Djokovic, in the next ATP tournament, got to the finals and lost to Cilic. This brought a sense of fear among the top 5 that Djokovic had the potential to beat them. And, that was exactly what happened.
Wimbledon: “Djokovic beats Tennys Sandgren. Djokovic beats Horacio Zeballos. Djokovic beats Kyle Edmund. Djokovic beats Karen Khachanov. Djokovic beats Kei Nishikori. Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal: This match was added to the top 10 legendary tennis matches in all of history. Djokovic beats Kevin Anderson. This may sound crazy, but Novak Djokovic has just won the Wimbledon!”
After this, Djokovic was a power to be reckoned with. He went on to reach the Round of 16 in the Canadian Open and won the Cincinnati Masters 1000s in the finals against Federer.
U.S. Open: Djokovic beats Márton Fucsovics. Djokovic beats Tennys Sandgren. Djokovic beats Richard Gasquet. Djokovic beats Joao Sousa. Djokovic beats John Millman. Djokovic beats Kei Nishikori. Djokovic beats Juan Martín del Potro. Djokovic just won another grand slam. The crazy thing is that he only dropped one set in the whole tournament. It was evident that he was better than he ever was before. It seemed as if no one could stop him.
Djokovic played the Laver Cup and helped Europe win the tournament. The opposition was pretty tough and they almost won. But stellar performances from Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, in the end, sealed their victory. Djokovic knew that he had to come back if he wanted to enjoy his career, and he did. It caused him to earn more money and gain satisfaction for playing, and tennis became even better than it was before.
