Former World No. 1 Mats Wilander recently questioned if Novak Djokovic could continue winning Grand Slams while playing limited tournaments in a year. Wilander also felt that he would begin losing confidence once he started losing to lower-ranked players.
After having a historic season in 2023, Djokovic has struggled to replicate his usual results and failed to win a Grand Slam in a season for the first time since 2017. Though he may have not had a season living up to his standards, he still managed to win the elusive gold at the Paris Olympics, defeating Carlos Alcaraz. He also reached the final of Wimbledon and the semifinals of the Australian Open.
The 24-time Major champion has been participating in limited tournaments this year and also admitted that he didn't have any long-term plans for the first time in his career.
Mats Wilander, who works for Eurosport now, said that the 37-year-old would miss his lifestyle as a professional after retirement.
"I think that lifestyle part of quitting professional tennis is the part that, personally, I miss the most," he said. Not winning, not losing, not necessarily competing, but being on tour and practising with the best guys in the world on the centre court in Shanghai or the centre court at Roland Garros."
However, he questioned if the Serb could continue his high level at Majors if he wasn't motivated enough for the other tournaments.
"Can he, though, do well in the Grand Slams without playing that many tournaments? Can he do well in the Grand Slams if he goes to Shanghai with any feeling that this is not important?"
The 60-year-old believes that Djokovic's confidence will take a hit once he starts losing to lower-ranked players.
"Because at some point when he starts losing to guys that are one, two or three in the world, but also guys that are 10 to 20 in the world, his confidence might be affected, and the other guys' confidence is going to grow."
Novak Djokovic will kick off his Shanghai Masters 2024 campaign against either Alex Michelsen or Bu Yunchaokete
Novak Djokovic, seeded fourth, will receive a bye in the opening round of the 2024 Shanghai Masters. He will kick off his campaign against the winner of the first-round match between Alex Michelsen and Bu Yunchaokete. The Serb has never faced either player.
He is placed in the bottom half of the draw which also includes second seed Alexander Zverev, sixth seed Andrey Rublev, seventh seed Taylor Fritz, ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov, and others.
The top half, on the other hand, is headlined by top seed Jannik Sinner, third seed Carlos Alcaraz, and fifth seed Daniil Medvedev among others.
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