He’d been there 37 times before, but Novak Djokovic admitted that he did not think he would return to a grand slam final.
Standing at the closing ceremony of his 38th, with his conqueror Alcaraz behind him and clutching the trophy, the Serb talked of a change in mentality.
He said, “I must be very honest and say I didn’t think that I would be standing in a closing ceremony of a Grand Slam once again.
“I lowered my expectations the last couple of years, which I think allows me to be able to let go of some of that unnecessary additional stress.”
After years of hardship and sacrifice that has seen the 38-year old win more grand slams than the now retired Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, why does he carry on?
Past the peak of his powers, Djokovic is still unable to leave behind the game he has dominated for so long.
The 2026 Australian Open showed that there is a reason behind this – a desire to be accepted and loved by the fans that can complement his unmatchable resumé.
It is this that stops him being the undisputed G.O.A.T., and that drives him to carry on.
Novak Djokovic is statistically the greatest male tennis player of all time.
He has won 24 grand slams, the most of any man. He has spent the most weeks at World number one, with 428. His overall win percentage is 83.31%, the highest of any man. Most importantly, he leads Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer in their head-to-head records, 31-29 and 27-23, respectively.
In 2024, he even won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. With his country at the heart of his motivation, this was one of his biggest achievements, and the emotion was clear for all to see.
And on the face of it, Djokovic might be continuing to compete just to chase even more history, trying to break more and more records to add to his already illustrious list.
Last week, he said he was creating his own history. He would do this by winning another major. It would be his 25th, giving him the most singles grand slams outright, a record he currently shares with Margaret Court. It would also make him the oldest man to win a grand slam title in the Open Era.
But Djokovic’s comments on his own history came in answer to what he considered a “disrespectful” question in a press conference after he got through his quarter-final match due to the injured Lorenzo Musetti having to retire.
Being asked to compare chasing Federer and Nadal in his early career to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in the later stages, he abruptly responded: “So I’m always the chaser and never being chased?”
The questioner quickly gave Djokovic credit for the 24 slams he won during this time, for which the World number three was ironically grateful, though clearly hurt.
“It’s worth saying that [I won 24 grand slams] sometimes,” Djokovic said with a wry smile.
Then he added, “They [Alcaraz and Sinner] are maybe going to have another third guy that I’m going to cheer for because I’ve always been the third guy.”
This final comment, said with a hint of sarcasm, gave an insight into why he continues to compete at the top level.