Written by Richard Pagliaro | @Itenisi_Manje | Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Image reordering: Oakberry
Atlas he carries the world on his shoulders at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
Novak Djokovic will cement his status as Tennis Hercules when he lifts the US Open trophy—and a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam crown—next month, the Hall of Famer said. Chrissie Evert.
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Former world No. 1 champions Evert and John McEnroe held a Zoom call with the media yesterday to encourage ESPN’s premier soccer to maintain coverage of the US Open for the 10th year in a row.
Big draw action begins on ESPN at noon on Monday, August 26.
The key question in New York: Will Djokovic be empowered by winning gold at the Olympics for Serbia to realize his nation’s dream?
Or will the 37-year-old Serbian tire from knee surgery in June, his brilliant attempt to reach the Wimbledon final, followed by a heartbreaking Olympic victory and a festive celebration in Belgrade?
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Evert, who calls the world No. 2 the biggest hitter he has ever met, says he has no doubts about Djokovic in New York as he chases a historic career Championship and a second consecutive US Open title.
“That would be great if he could do that. But he’s a hard worker,” Evert said of Djokovic. “He is more pious than anyone I have ever seen.
“He’s had a lot of ups and downs in his life, in his marriage, in his personal relationships, I think, because of being driven too much. And he’s fixed everything. He’s a talker and he fixes things.”
18-year Grand Slam champion Evert said emotionally and mentally Djokovic “seems to be in the best place he’s been in a long time right now.”
“I think it will be Herculean if he wins this tournament and gets to 25,” said Evert. “I mean, I think he’s got to be the greatest player of all time, the male player. I think he’s on a lot of people’s minds.
“I think that he has won the Olympics, after that he went through it with surgery, it seems that Alcaraz has started to take over, starting to get his number like he did at Wimbledon, to get that strength back. and he got that level of tennis, we really haven’t seen it all year, because he hasn’t won a tournament all year, it was like a fairy tale.”
Former world No. 1 Andre Agassi calls Djokovic “the best returner I’ve ever seen.”
Former world No. 1 John McEnroe calls Djokovic “the best mover on a hard court I’ve ever seen in my life.”
The former No. 1 Evert cites a key quality to Djokovic’s continued success: Karma.
Seeing Djokovic endure so much adversity in his career—accused by critics, some detractors of being “too soft” early in his career and doubted and sometimes scorned by the ardent fans of rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer—said Evert. he has Karma on his side and he deserves everything he has achieved because he has worked hard for it all.
“It was legendary,” Evert said of Djokovic’s Olympic win. “But you know what? I believe in karma.
“This boy has worked hard all his life, he has put up with a lot of things from the press and being kind [viewed as] bad guy with Federer and Nadal. He deserves it. He deserves everything.”
Can Djokovic connect Instant Karma in New York next week?
That will be one of the top storylines to watch at this US Open.
