The ATP Tour has entered its autumn phase. The schedule begins with ATP 250 tournaments in Chengdu and Hangzhou. Next come ATP 500 events in Beijing and Tokyo. These tournaments lead into the Shanghai Masters.
In Beijing, Novak Djokovic turned back the clock to claim the title. He also maintained his unbeaten record at the China Open, improving it to 34-0. The Serbian had not competed at the tournament since 2015.
The victory brought Djokovic his 102nd tour-level title. It also extended his remarkable run of winning at least one title every year since 2006. At 39, he became the oldest player to achieve the feat in almost half a century.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer and tennis fan AJ Becker examines Djokovic’s achievement. He also explores the values that have shaped the Serbian’s extraordinary career.
Battling against the odds
Djokovic arrived in China after a difficult period. His confidence appeared to be fading following several surprise defeats at Masters events. He had also suffered his first opening-round Grand Slam exit in 20 years.
The results pushed the 39-year-old out of the top 10 for the first time since 2018. Many observers began to question whether he could still compete at the highest level.
However, Djokovic refused to give up. He had not played in Beijing since winning the title in 2015. Yet he returned and overcame three top-10 opponents in three consecutive days.
Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur all stood between him and the trophy. Djokovic also required several medical timeouts during the tournament.
Despite those challenges, he found the form he needed to win. The triumph delivered his 73rd hard-court title and strengthened his remarkable legacy.
Building it slowly
Many people had written Djokovic off. Yet the Serbian once again showed that he still had plenty to offer. His habit of winning trophies began long before his rise to global stardom.
At 16, Djokovic ranked No. 767 in the world. He claimed his first Futures title against César Ferrer-Victoria, a player who never progressed beyond the ITF circuit.
Three Challenger titles in a year then helped Djokovic climb from No. 515 to No. 128. He soon broke into the world’s top 100.
His talent became clear when he defeated Nicolás Massú in Amersfoort in 2006. The victory gave Djokovic his first tour-level title on clay. Dutch fans watched the 36th-ranked Serbian announce himself as a player to watch.
Djokovic also worked hard to overcome the physical problems that had troubled him early in his career. His growing fitness complemented his improving tactical skills.
He won the Miami Masters while still a teenager. At the start of 2008, he confirmed his arrival among the sport’s elite by claiming the Australian Open.
Competing with the greatest
It was in 2011, however, that Djokovic cast a captivating spell across the tour.
The statistics are staggering: 70 victories including 41 in a row, 10 trophies including three slams and five Masters.
Most impressive of all, though, was his dominant record (10–1) in clashes with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – arguably the two greatest players of all time at that point.
In the mid-2000s, the aforementioned duo were simply a step removed from the rest of the tour – taking 14 of the 16 slams during 2004-7 – and, understandably, had plaudits lathered upon them far and wide.
Spurred on by ambition, ego and a drive for recognition, Djokovic went on to outmatch not only those two, but also Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro and the multitude of other exceptional players born in the 1980s.
Sufficient recognition?
Despite his colossal achievements, Djokovic himself always felt – and to some extent still feels – that he had never received the same acclamation, indeed adulation, afforded to Roger and Rafa.
A possible explanation for the above may be his style of play; Djokovic’s is more nuanced and less immediately striking to the casual spectator than Federer’s stylish flair and balletic elegance, or Nadal’s relentless passion and gladiatorial spirit would be.
There are also arguments of likeability and personality, as well as the theory that his home country may be considered far-off or unfashionable compared to Spain and Switzerland.
Style of the times
Pete Sampras was widely considered the greatest before the ‘big three’ came along; Djokovic has alluded to admiring the seven-time Wimbledon champion as a child in the 1990s.
Back then, ‘Pistol Pete’ was the king of serve-and-volley, with many other elite players also serve-and-volley ‘fundamentalists’ according to the Sampras gospel.
With the sport becoming wearyingly one-dimensional, Djokovic and most of his generation adopted a ‘baseline rally’ strategy in the 2000s.
The Serb became an expert practitioner in that baseline style – a style tethered to trend and time – as serve-and-volley now lies somewhere between demode and extinct.
Djokovic is still a most proficient unlocker of opponents’ rearguards, and his command of the serve return remains unsurpassed.
Bouncing back from adversity
Indeed, the preponderant playing style is just one of many epochal changes that have taken place in the two decades in which the Serb has been competing.
Even after a period of decline in 2017 and 2018, during which his ranking plummeted – seemingly taking his belief and winning mindset with it – Djokovic bounced back by doubling his Grand Slam tally, proving once again that no-one can outflank him on mentality.
His natural on-court expression is solemn, that competitor’s necessary snarl always within reach.
Detractors may point to the frequent complaints made to umpires, the occasional provocative gestures towards audiences, the views on COVID vaccines expressed – and likely held in private.
Nonetheless, the 39-year-old has almost always displayed humility in defeat as well as class in victory, and isn’t it refreshing for a player to express their views, rather than address the media as if a trained AI bot?
This latest Beijing triumph felt so potent and poignant, so emblematic of the relentless pursuit of greatness that has defined his career.
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