Novak Djokovic (SRB) poses with the US Open trophy
Novak Djokovic is preparing to defend his title at the US Open and he will get a chance to seal two more iconic moments in tennis history in the final Grand Slam of the year.
Djokovic has taken some time away from the court after he completed his dream of winning an Olympic gold medal by beating his newest rival Carlos Alcaraz in the Paris 2024 final earlier this month.
He declared that was his ‘greatest achievement’ and the win moved him closer to one of the great milestones in tennis.
Djokovic’s Olympic win was his 99th career title and he will get the chance to move on to the magical century in New York.
The Serbian also needs one more Grand Slam title to reach 25 and hold the all-time singles record and when asked whether his motivation will wane after he ‘completed’ tennis with his Olympics win, he offered up this response: “Yes it’s complete because I completed all the achievements with this gold medal but no because I love this sport. I don’t play only to win the tournaments.
“I don’t know about the future, I really want to be in the present moment to celebrate. It was a long journey, many, many years of dreaming to be holding the gold medal. So now it’s about happiness, joy and celebration.”
Djokovic will have spent the last few days reflecting on his great achievements in tennis, with the joy that rushed through him as he collected an Olympic gold medal filling him with emotion.
There will now be doubts over whether he can find the motivation to push for more glory in the sport, but Djokovic has hinted he is not ready to quit yet.
“The fact is that at this stage of my career, every Grand Slam final could be the last one,” he said.
“So I think that I probably value these occasions and opportunities to win another Slam more than I did maybe 10 years ago because 10 years ago I felt like, ‘Hey, I still have quite a few years ahead of me.’ I don’t know how many I have ahead of me now, I don’t know how many of the years where I play four Slams in the season.”
“I see every Grand Slam that I play right now as really a golden opportunity to make more history.
“I had a childhood dream when I was seven, eight: I wanted to become the best player in the world and win a Wimbledon trophy.
“That was the only thing I wanted,” said Djokovic, now a four-time US Open champion and the tournament’s oldest men’s titlist in the Open Era.
“When I realized that, I started to dream new dreams and set new objectives, new goals. I never imagined that I would be here talking about 24 Slams.”
Djokovic still has a few big records to chase as he looks to find his next targets, with a 100th title and 25th Grand Slam just two of the goals he can now chase.
He needs to win another ten titles to equal Jimmy Connors’ iconic all-time record of 109 career titles, while he needs just four more titles to equal Roger Federer’s career titles haul.
Djokovic is one behind Federer in Wimbledon wins and he would relish the chance to take his total to eight on the Centre Court grass next summer.
The Serbian is also tied with Federer on 71 hard court titles ahead of his latest bid for glory at Flushing Meadows.
He will also get a chance to leap to the top of multiple winners at the US Open, with Djokovic aiming to win a fifth title in New York and join all-time leaders Connors, Pete Sampras and Federer.
