Novak Djokovic has identified that his aura grows with growth of his wins on the biggest stage and feels this might give him an advantage over his young rivals.
The World No. 1 reiterated that he wants to keep the young field of ATP stars at bay so they couldn’t threaten him at the big titles. Djokovic thinks he has played two of his best matches in the 2023 season after completing victories against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the semifinal and final of 2023 ATP Finals in Turin.
The 36-year-old downed ATP #2, Alcaraz 6-3, 6-2 in the final four clash before serving a 6-3, 6-3 win against ATP #4, Jannik Sinner to take the 7th title of his stellar 2023 campaign.
The legendary Serbian’s ruthless thrashing of the two youngsters saw him get one better of his Swiss rival Roger Federer as he clinched a record-breaking 7th title at the year-end Finals.
Speaking in the post-final press conference, Djokovic explained how stopping the youngster to overthrow him and maintaining an aura helps him defend his stakes.
“If you understood the situation this way, I’m glad. Hopefully they feel the same. Yeah, I mean, I want them to feel that kind of pressure. When they play me, I want them to feel that it’s going to require the best tennis from them in order to win against me,” he said.
“That’s what I want my opponents to feel, no doubt, because that helps mentally coming into the match. I think the more I win on the biggest stage, the more this kind of aura grows, and I’m glad for it, no doubt. Of course, that’s not going to win you the match, but it might give you the little percentage, the little edge.”
The 24-time Grand Slam champion also rated his last two matches in Turin against the World No. 2 and World No. 4.
“Yes, I did. I think the match against Alcaraz last night and the one tonight, probably two best matches under the circumstances that I’ve played this season against two players that are in fantastic form,” said the Serbian.
“I mean, obviously the quality of Alcaraz and Sinner we all know. Playing Sinner tonight in front of his home crowd, and the way I finished the tournament and finished the season, is amazing. I’m very, very proud of the performance.
“Obviously what Goran was referring to is probably after I clinched the year No 1 with the first win over Rune, I was not mentally present I think fully in the tournament. After that I was like, yeah, kind of half in, half out feeling. That reflected on my level of tennis and my performance and the way I felt on the court.
“Obviously thanks to Sinner for allowing me to be in the semi-finals when I was there. I thought now, ‘okay, I’m going to try and step it up.’ And I did. I played two really high-level matches. I started very aggressively tonight against Jannik, which was the different to the group stage match we had against each other.
“I think that match helped me prepare myself better for the atmosphere, the crowd. Obviously I analysed the match and I looked what I could have done better. I think I’ve done it very well for the entire match.”