The 1988 French Open finalist Henri Leconte has claimed that present version of Novak Djokovic is older and slower and younger players are smelling it.
Leconte while observing the young players now being less intimidated by the 36-year-old World No. 1, said that the Next Gen must prove they can embrace the highest level and stay there.
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz being the elitists in their lot have so far bagged the three big titles up for grabs in 2024.
Sinner clinched his maiden major title at the Australian Open in January and sealed his second ATP Masters 1000 crown at the Floridian Masters last week. The 22-year-old also took over rival Alcaraz in the ATP rankings as the new World No. 2. Enroute to hitting the career high rank, the Italian has sealed three titles at Melbourne Park, Rotterdam and Miami.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz by securing the Indian Wells crown has ended the title draught that stretched for 8 months. Prior to Indian Wells, Spaniard’s last title came at the Wimbledon Championships where he defeated Djokovic in the historic five-set final.
Talking about the legendary Serbian, he has not won a tournament since his triumph at the 2023 ATP Finals in November as the closed yet another stellar campaign. The 24-time Grand Slam champion was downed by Sinner in the semifinals of the Australian Open before getting an upset defeat at the hands of lucky loser and another Italian Luca Nardi the R3 in Indian Wells.
Djokovic will return to action at this week’s Monte-Carlos Masters where he is bidding to seal a third title having previously won the titles in 2013 and 2015. The World No. 1 will take on either Roman Safiullin or Jaume Munar in the opener.
Talking with Monaco Matin ahead of the first clay Masters 1000 event of the season, Leconte gave his verdict on the rising stars on the ATP circuit as he claimed Djokovic is finally catching the slump.
“The ‘Next Gen’ has dominated since last year, but they must prove that they can remain at the highest level. Sinner wins and confirms with his exceptional start to the season,” observed the former World No. 5.
“There’s still Novak, but he’s older and he’s slower. He lost a little liveliness. Young people are less afraid because they feel that it is crumbly. Slowly, everything changes.”
Former world No 3 Ivan Ljubicic recently claimed that Djokovic’s issues so far in 2024 have been mental as he outlined the three events he sees the Serbian winner most motivated for.
“His problem is psychological, he certainly hasn’t forgotten how to play tennis. Undoubtedly, ‘Nole’ must have fire inside, otherwise he is missing something,” the Croatian told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“He is used to fighting on every point, to conquering the pitch inch by inch, and if he doesn’t feel those stimuli, he can get into difficulty. But I am convinced that as his real goals for the season approach – Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympics – he will be able to recover.”