2023-09-12 06:49:39
Djokovic: 24 and 36 are just numbers 2023-09-12 14:49:39.0 Source: Xinhuanet Author: Wang Chunyan, Le Wenwan, Li Bowen
At the US Open that ended on the 10th local time, Serbian “King” Djokovic lived up to expectations and defeated Russian player Medvedev, winning his fourth US Open trophy and his 24th Grand Slam championship trophy. .
This is the fourth time Djokovic has reached a Grand Slam final this season. He won the title twice in the first three times, and only lost to the 20-year-old Spanish star Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.
Djokovic’s loss at the time also triggered renewed discussions regarding the replacement of the old and new kings in men’s tennis, although there has been too much discussion over the past few years regarding who can replace the “Big Three”.
The current reality is that the 42-year-old Swiss King Federer has announced his retirement in 2022. The 37-year-old Spaniard Nadal has been exempted from playing since he lost the Australian Open due to injury at the beginning of this season. There are endless voices regarding his retirement. The “King of Clay” also hinted at a press conference that the 2023 season may be the last season.
What regarding Djokovic? Those who think he is “too old” have very traditional ideas: He is already 36 years old. According to the rules, it is time to fade out of the tennis world. At least for the competitiveness of the Grand Slam championship, it will definitely become more competitive as the years go by. And weakened.
In fact, time seems to be frozen here with Djokovic: he has no major injuries, and his competitive condition is maintained very well. More importantly, he still maintains his focus on competing for championships and Grand Slam championships. desire.
When he defeated the 20-year-old American player Sheldon in the US Open semi-finals, Djokovic had a good explanation of “age is just a number”.
“Age is a number, and this sentence really resonates with me. If I had been at the top of the sport, I would not have considered leaving tennis because I simply might not see the reason to do so.” Djokovic Qi said.
In addition to 36, there should be 24 as well. At present, there is no reason to think that Djokovic cannot win his 25th Grand Slam championship. Although, the Serbian said that he had not thought regarding how many Grand Slam titles he would win throughout his career.
“I still regard the Grand Slam tournament as the most important tournament of the entire season. I want to play the best tennis here and this will not change. This will still be the case next season or I don’t know how many seasons in the future. So, we’ll see what happens,” Djokovic said following winning.
Djokovic has previously said that his childhood dream was to win Wimbledon and become world number one. Later, he realized that he needed to have new goals, because “goals are very important. Goals can motivate you to have a clear destination in your plans every day and every week.”
Djokovic said that as his career has progressed, his goals have become higher and higher. “But to be honest, I hadn’t really thought regarding how many weeks I might be No. 1 in the world. Three years ago, I started to realize that I might be able to spend as many weeks as No. 1 in the world. First, if I stay healthy or play well, I can win a Grand Slam championship once more. Of course, at that time, a Grand Slam championship seemed a little more difficult than being No. 1, but I believed I might do it.”
Djokovic did it. In the past three seasons, except for two Grand Slam events that he has not participated in, Djokovic has won seven of the ten Grand Slam events he has participated in. This season, he not only reached the finals of four Grand Slam tournaments, but also successfully won three championship trophies.
“In fact, at the age of 36, every Grand Slam championship trophy may be the last one. Therefore, I will cherish the opportunity to win another Grand Slam championship more than I did ten years ago. Because, maybe in ten years Before, I would have thought, ‘Don’t worry, there are still several years left.’ Now I don’t know how many years will it take for me to have the opportunity to play four Grand Slams in one season,” Djokovic said.
In any case, for the self-disciplined Djokovic, 24 and 36 are just numbers. Next year, he can definitely turn 36 into 37. As for how much 24 will turn into, it is difficult to predict.
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