MARTINA NAVRATILOVA ‘NOT SURPRISED’ BY NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S US OPEN EXIT AS SHE RAISES MOTIVATION DOUBTS
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has revealed she was “not surprised” Novak Djokovic lost early at the 2024 US Open as she feels the Serb lacked “focus and fire.”
The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion expressed doubt over Djokovic being able to stay motivated and argued he needs to play “a little bit more than he has been.”
Djokovic’s US Open title defence ended with a four-set upset loss to world No 28 Alexei Popyrin in the third round at Flushing Meadows.
The defeat was Djokovic’s earliest at a Grand Slam since he fell in the second round at the 2017 Australian Open. This is the first season where the 37-year-old tennis great has not won a Grand Slam title since 2017.
“It wasn’t meant to be tonight,” the 24-time major winner said in a social media post. “Well played, Alexei Popyrin. Time for me to relax, regroup and move on. Until next time, NYC.”
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Djokovic secured his only title of the 2024 season so far earlier this month at the Paris Olympics, where he overcame Carlos Alcaraz in the final to claim his first gold medal.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Navratilova highlighted the fact the Olympics was Djokovic’s top priority this year as she reflected on his US Open exit.
“His goal for the year was to get the Olympic gold medal, and he got that done, so I’m not surprised he didn’t have the focus or that fire,” said the former world No 1.
“It’s impossible to keep it going consistently. When you have a slight off day when you are older, it’s way worse than when you’re 25.
“Everything gets harder, takes longer. Recovery from training hard, recovery from injury. You want to train less but then you’re in worse shape.
“I just don’t see how he can stay motivated. If anybody can, it’s him, but he has got to play a little bit more than he has been playing. If he pulls back too much… you have to be match tough. You can’t practise that.”
Former world No 76 Naomi Broady echoed Navratilova’s point about Djokovic’s motivation and suggested it could be tough for the Serbian to qualify for this year’s ATP Finals.
“For the entire year he was eyeing the Olympics, that’s what he trained for, and now that he’s got that, you hear it sometimes with the Olympians in other sports, you have to reset and readjust your goals,” said the Brit.
“How much motivation does he still have to push himself for No 25? That’s what I’m going to find interesting.
“Is he even going to make end-of-year finals at this point? He has to push on if he’s going to.”
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