Novak Djokovic at 36 is still the man to beat on the tour and the debate now has moved to whether how long he will maintain this GOAT dominance.
The 24-time Major winner crushed Italian Jannik Sinner, the ATP #4 emphatically to clinch a record-breaking 7th ATP title in Turin.
Against the same opponent, the World No. 1 loss his round-robin tie in group stage but bounced back with a ruthless reply to topple the in-form Italian as he lost just two points on serve in the opening frame that lasted 38 min; Djokovic claimed the set 6-3.
The legendary Serbian was is no mode to allow Sinner to settle in the second set either as he raced into a 2-0 lead before the youngster saved three bps in the third game to avoid utter dismantling.
Getting full support as the local player, Sinner was successful in getting the partisan crowd behind him as he created two break opportunities in the sixth game but couldn’t capitalize and both were saved by Djokovic.
The 22-year-old held serve in the marathon seventh game which was followed by another nerve-breaking display of tennis by Djokovic who held his serve to put 5-3 on the score board. The match ended in a distasteful fashion when Sinner made a double fault to hand Novak the luxury of not serving out the match.
Djokovic’s dominance has sparked a new debate among the tennis fraternity about how many more titles the Serbian will conquer before calling it a day. Amazon Prime tennis pundits Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman shared their thoughts on Djokovic’s continued brilliance and the desire to remain on the top of the sport as there is not much that is left to prove for the Serb.
Former British No. 1 Henman, came up with the outrageous prediction to suggest the 36-year-old will continue to break records for the next three years while believing he can reach up to 30 Grand Slams in the next couple of years.
“I don’t think he will still be playing in five years,” said Henman. “The challenges of staying injury-free get harder and harder.
“I definitely feel he could play for another three years and the factor that is out of his hands is how long will he have his speed of movement.
“The technical abilities will always be there, but inevitably time will catch up with him and when you get half a step slower, that will affect his performance.
“But if he plays for another three years, I think he will win a couple of Slams a year and that will take him to 30, which would be amazing.”
Henman’s compatriot and fellow British No. 1 Rusedski chose to remain cautious on the future prospects of Djokovic while forecasting that another four Grand Slam titles could be a safer estimate.
“I think we have seen the guys who will be the top three players in the world and that will be Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune,” said Rusedski.
“At the moment, he is the greatest of them all and the greatest of all time. He is the best athlete in the world right now and I feel he will win at least four more Grand Slam titles, taking him to 28.”
Djokovic told Henman in an Amazon Prime interview that he feels at the moment he is playing best tennis of his career and rated his final two matches in Turin Finals against Alcaraz and Sinner as his best competitions of 2023.
Djokovic just concluded another stellar year on the ATP tour by winning three of the 4 majors before topping it with Year-End Finals trophy in Turin. Henman and Rusedski may be very right in their estimates as it seems there is nothing to stop the 24-time Grand Slam champion from racking up more silverware and cementing his legacy as unanimous GOAT of tennis.