Djokovic had arguably the greatest season of his career in 2021.
Novak Djokovic was by far the best player of the 2011 season, winning three Majors and five Masters 1000 tournaments. Novak outpaced all rivals, including world no. 2 Rafael Nadal, whom he has beaten in no fewer than six notable finals, including Wimbledon and the US Open.
Djokovic suffered a back injury at the US Open, struggling a bit in the title clash against Nadal, but still sealing the deal in four sets. The Serb did not play well for the rest of the year, winning six out of ten games to shut down his engines and recharge his batteries for 2012.
Both Novak and Rafa were tired at the ATP Finals, unable to get past the round-robin stage and fight for the title. Asked about his great rival and the tiredness that he mentioned a day before, Djokovic admitted that he fully understands Nadal.
The Serb revealed that he felt tired in the final stages of the season and that he lacked the freshness that he had in the previous nine or ten months. In his last competitive match of the season, Novak suffered his first loss to Janko Tipsarevic in four meetings against his good friend.
He does not. 1 of the world took the first set, but fell 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and eight minutes to move even further away from the place in the semifinal. With that spot on his account, Novak had a chance to advance to the last four and face Roger Federer.
Still, Tomas Berdych beat David Ferrer to join the Spaniard in the semi-finals and leave the Serb empty-handed. Djokovic and Tipsarevic each won 84 points, with the older Serb playing better in crucial moments. Janko fended off two of four break chances and earned four breaks to control the scoreboard in sets two and three and emerge on top.
Nole is a former World No.1
Novak Djokovic’s experience of war in Serbia as a 12-year-old changed his life in many ways. “That’s one of the most traumatic experiences and images that I had in my childhood and has stayed with me to this day,” Djokovic said.
The nine-time Australian Open champion has been affected by the incident ever since but is grateful that his loved ones and family members came out on the better side of the days of the war in Serbia. “We were lucky that in our families we did not lose anyone that was very close to us.
There are a lot of people that lost many close people in their lives and that’s a different level of suffering and trauma. I can’t even imagine the pain they had to bear to go through that,” he further expressed.
