MIAMI: Novak Djokovic admitted that chasing the world’s number one sport is not part of his to-do list anymore.
With 24 Grand Slam titles, the tennis legend now has sights on adding more trophies to his collection as he wraps up his iconic career, enjoying the fun and thrill of achieving big wins rather than focusing on the race of becoming the top-ranked player.
The 37-year-old athlete has held the world number one spot for over 400 weeks and now sits fifth in the rankings. However, even though his priorities have changed, he proved he’s far from done, securing a record-breaking 411th ATP Masters 1000 match win.
His recent 6-1, 7-6(1) third-round win over Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina at the Miami Open led Djokovic closer to his 100th singles title, and remarked that the top ranking mattered less and less.
In a social media post, he thanked his opponent and stated: “Thanks for the battle, @camilougo. Hola Miami! Idemooo 😎”
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Netizens also expressed their congratulations to Djokovic and said: “Step by step, we’re building momentum. Idemoooo 💪💚”, “Another record broken today! Congrats 🥳🥳🥳”, and “I feel you are ready now, physically and mentally you were impressive yesterday 💪💪💪”
Djokovic: ‘I’m not chasing ranking points’
More so, the athlete told the reporters: “If it comes as a consequence of great results and titles that I win in a season, then that’s amazing, but that’s not my objective… My objective is to be able to play my best tennis at the Grand Slams and the tournaments where I participate. My schedule is revised, so obviously, I’m not chasing ranking points.”
He added: “It’s different nowadays, maybe, than it was a few years back (or) for most of my career, to be honest. I’m happy to win a Grand Slam and a big tournament rather than getting to number one. Right now, that’s more important for me.”
Moreover, Djokovic admitted that reaching the top of the title list alongside Jimmy Connors with 109 titles and Roger Federer with 103 might be a tough challenge. He said: “It would definitely be amazing to get to that record… Connors is someone that I truly admire and respect. He’s always very supportive of me in public; I’m thankful for that. It would be amazing.”
“But again, it’s probably more difficult to achieve that nowadays for me than maybe it was some years ago. I’ll go step by step. I’ll see. I don’t know how long I’m going to compete for, but I’m still enjoying myself when I play well,” he stated.