That’s how capricious fate is. In the absence of the last stroke of the season, this week in the final phase of the Davis Cup, Malaga, the epilogue points to the same protagonist as in the prologue: Novak Djokovic. The two faces of Nole. One, the athlete fighting with the world, so engrossed with himself that he loses sight of the collective and generates a circus resolved by arrest, expelled from Australia in January for what has been told so many times and for what put him back on the trigger; another, the superlative champion who, despite everything, adds and continues without ceasing, crowned in Turin by beating Casper Ruud (7-5 and 6-3, in 1h 32m) and already located at the top of the master pyramid, with six titles; that is to say, the same ones that the Swiss Roger Federer defended since 2011, recordman of the tournament. This is the Serbian, always in search of existential balance, but without middle terms. So holistic, so philosophical, so contradictory. So good. So Djokovic.
“It is a great relief and a satisfaction, because I have been all year between pins, waiting for permits to go to some places. So I’m happy to have handled it in a positive way”, he says after resolving the final dispute with Ruud and regaining glory in a tournament that had eluded him since 2015, when he last won. He gets it now with a plenary session that brings him a record check, something never seen before in tennis: 4.6 million euros. Voracious like few others, the Balkan (35 years old) catches the records in pairs; The same goes for the great Federer who wins the biggest prize. He does it in a course in which many things have happened, summed up in balls: the explosion of Alcaraz, the feats of Nadal, the farewells of Serena and Federer, among many other ups and downs. However, in 2022 they began talking about him and his misdeeds, and it ends in the same way. But trophy in hand.
This is Djokovic, who despite not having been able to play in Melbourne or New York –deported from one place and rejected in another–, despite not having added the 2,000 points that under normal circumstances his seventh win at Wimbledon would have given him –without a cast this year as a result of the military offensive on Ukraine– and despite having had to compete (voluntarily) on the wrong foot, between disconnection and disconnection, he closes the exercise with his arms raised. Imposing, Nole sings victory. To do so, he has had to overcome several highly demanding tests in Turin, from the tough takeoff against Stefanos Tsitsipas to the close semifinal with Taylor Fritz, going through a long mileage test against Daniil Medvedev; only Andrei Rublev on the second day and Ruud on the latter – a lot of will and good manners, but lacking in fang – brought him some peace.
The Norwegian set out all his weapons, but collided with the granite version of Djokovic and lost the option of overtaking Rafael Nadal in the ranking. Therefore, the Spaniard (36 years old) will maintain the second position and the Norwegian (23) the third with a view to the start of the next course, while the man from Belgrade will rise to fifth place this Monday. Nole does it with a very remarkable average effectiveness –85.7% extracted from the 42 wins in 49 commitments– and with five more trophies in an impressive record (91). The initialed poker in Rome, Wimbledon, Tel Aviv, Astana and the Masters Cup equates him with Carlos Alcaraz, to whom he now points decisively. Between the two there is a margin of 2,000 points, then he could take number one from Murcia at the Australian Open. punished a priori until 2025 due to the grotesque in January, he has finally been pardoned and the news – anticipated on Tuesday by the local press and confirmed by the Government on Wednesday – gave him extra oxygen in the middle of the competition.
The oldest champion
Djokovic rises as the oldest master champion, surpassing Federer’s longevity (30 years in 2011), and completes an extraordinary sprint five months that began to take shape in Wimbledon, resurrection territory for him. His refusal to get vaccinated and the border episode considerably decimated his public projection, and from many corners there was speculation that his stubbornness could mean the beginning of the end of a fabulous career; however, the Serb rebelled on the grass – “he just needed time to clear the storm”, he claimed on July 10 – and then sped up again. From July here, 26 wins and two losses, against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Laver Cup and against Holger Rune in the Paris-Bercy final. The rest, a sum and continues to be endorsed at the Pala Alpitour, the third enclave that sees him celebrate; he previously did it in Shanghai (2008) and London (2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015), and is now smiling in Italy.
“It’s been a long time, seven years, but that makes this victory bigger and sweeter,” he appreciates after taking his son in his arms and celebrating with his family. “No-le! No-le, no-le!”, cheers the stands. He heartily applauds his colleague Zlatan Ibrahimovic, exjuventino, back in town. And he vindicates himself: against the push of the youngsters, Djokovic resists and bites hard.
“THE NUMBER ONE IS ALCARAZ, BUT I ALWAYS SEE MYSELF AS THE BEST”
AC | Turin
An AC Milan supporter and lover of Italy, champion Djokovic feels a special connection to the country. The bulk of his team is Italian – agents, physio and physical trainer; all except Goran Ivanisevic-, as a child he learned to knead pizza in the business run by his parents at the foot of a ski resort in Kopaonik -a four-hour drive from Belgrade- and he speaks the language perfectly.
“I love playing here. It is not a coincidence that I began to feel good in Rome, ”he specified in reference to the triumph achieved in May, his first title in this unusual 2022; “Then Wimbledon came, which was extremely important, and then I only lost at Paris-Bercy [omitiendo el tropiezo de la Laver Cup, la competición por equipos en la que se despidió Federer]. The end of the season has been incredible”.
During his intervention before the journalists, the Serbian was asked if he currently considers himself the best player of the moment, given the figures he has registered in the final stretch. And he replied: “No, I am the fifth”. He continued: “This week, probably yes, but throughout the year Alcaraz has been. He is the number one. But in my mind I always see myself as the best of course. That is my mentality. Thinking like this has led me to where I am.”
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