Novak Djokovic is leading the men’s tennis scene despite being on the wrong side of 30 and he attributed his longevity towards his ability to reinvent himself.
The Serbian cemented his status as the greatest male player of all time by claiming a record extending 24th title at the US Open earlier in September and has now revealed the secret that helps him maintain hunger for winning and self-belief.
Djokovic in the next few weeks will reach the milestone of a 400th week as world #1 and that remarkable feat is a proof to his sheer dominance in the golden era of tennis. Yet when questioned about sustained hunger for extended period of time, the 36-year-old sees it as his personal trait of reinvention.
“There are always changes happening, literally on a weekly to monthly basis in my approach to training, to recovery to mental training,” stated Djokovic.
“There’s always something that I’m trying to add so that I can up my performance in my game, you know, at least for a few per cent.
“It’s a constant process of trying to get better and trying to implement certain things that work for you and finding that formula.
“When you find it, you know, the biggest I feel like, one of the biggest lessons I have learned probably mentally throughout my career is that, you know, even if you find a formula that works, it’s not a guarantee, and actually most likely it’s not going to work the next year.”
Only a very exclusive minority of athletes in the world of sport have managed to sustain the level of success Djokovic has displayed over the last 15 years.
The 24-time Slam champion is competing against players who are almost half his age and very much eager to dethrone him, however, they always fell short on the day and it appears Djokovic never fails to come up with something new as he is ever motivated to reach for more.
“You need to reinvent yourself because everyone else does,” he added.
“As a 36-year-old competing with 20-year-olds, I probably have to do it more than I have ever done it in order to keep my body in shape, in order to be able to recover so that I can perform on the highest level consistently.
“Also mentally and emotionally to still keep the right balance between motivation so that I’m actually inspired and motivated to play the best tennis and to compete with these guys and to actually not let go in the moments when I maybe can, and at the same time keep the playfulness and passion for the sport.
“Because, you know, I can be very, how can I say, get down on myself and go into really high-stress moments, you know, on the practice days or matches. You know, you spend a lot of energy. But I guess, you know, maybe you can call me a perfectionist.
“I mean, I know I’m not the only one. I know there are a lot of great champions in different sports that thrive on this kind of approach to perfect themselves, their approach, their game, their performance and their recovery, every single day. On and on.
“That’s why LeBron James still keeps going at his age, or Tom Brady, you know, greats like that, that are inspiring.
“That’s basically it. You know, it’s a constant, evolving process of me trying to implement certain things that will give me an edge over the young guns.”