Pragmatic to a fault, Novak Djokovic makes right call in ending season

In reading the wire report about Novak Djokovic’s decision to sit out the remainder of the 2017 season, due to a right elbow injury, a statistic caught my eye: the 30-year-old has not missed a Grand Slam tournament since the 2005 Australian Open. This 51-tournament run—the seventh-longest in tennis history, according to the Associated Press—will come to an end at next month’s U.S. Open, where the men’s title picture has taken a dramatic turn. Despite Djokovic’s relative struggles this season, which ends with a 32-8 mark and two tournament wins, he was always going to be a title contender at Flushing Meadows.

“I think I haven’t missed a single major event for more than 10 years,” the two-time U.S. Open champion wrote on his website, where he made the announcement this morning. “I’ve been reaching the final stages of the tournaments and playing at the highest level. The remarkable series has come to an end.”

At face value, the 51-Slam streak suggests Djokovic has been a paragon of health since turning pro in 2003. But before Serb famously completed the career Grand Slam last year, he nearly—infamously?—completed the retirement Slam. Djokovic bowed out of matches at the majors in 2005 (French Open, against Guillermo Coria), 2006 (French Open, against Rafael Nadal), 2007 (Wimbledon, against Nadal), 2009 (Australian Open, against Andy Roddick) and, most recently, last month at Wimbledon, against Tomas Berdych. The US Open is the only major at which Djokovic has not retired from a match during his illustrious career.

Whether you’re a fan of Djokovic or not, what can’t be argued is that he didn’t give himself a shot to win at the game’s biggest events. You can’t win them if you don’t enter them, and for the past 13 years, Djokovic did just that. Of course, you can’t win them if you retire during them, and Djokovic’s mid-match withdrawal count is unquestionably high. But his retirements can also be seen as pragmatic: Djokovic was ensuring that his body would be ready to compete at the next major. Having won a dozen majors by age 30, it’s foolhardy to question Djokovic’s historically successful approach to the game.

The statistic also informs us about what Djokovic’s right elbow injury must be: pretty serious.

“My elbow is hurt due to excessive playing, and it troubles me constantly when serving, and now when playing forehand as well,” Djokovic wrote. “All the doctors I’ve consulted, and all the specialists I have visited, in Serbia and all over the world, have agreed that this injury requires rest.

“A prolonged break from the sport is inevitable. I’ll do whatever it takes to recover.”

Assuming his recovery goes smoothly, there’s no reason to think Djokovic won’t be able to resume his game-dominating ways upon his return. He won’t turn 31 until May, and is just 18 months removed from holding all four of tennis’ chalices. Roger Federer, 35, and Nadal, 31, are the owners of this year’s Grand Slam trophies, and both men took extended absences from the tour last year, around this time, to properly rest and recover for the next season. And it’s not as if a slew of players are within striking distance—empirically speaking—of the uppermost tier of tennis, which Djokovic has been a part of since 2011. It should make Andy Murray fans wonder whether if their man ought to consider a five-month break after his own relative struggles.

Retirements in tennis are impossible to comment on with certainty: only the player truly knows how he or she feels, and if their body and mind are able to compete at the highest level. Djokovic feels that he cannot, and for that he must be given the benefit of the doubt.

“My body has its limits, and I have to respect that and be grateful for all that I have achieved so far,” Djokovic wrote. “At the beginning of my career I was facing health issues, but during years, and with a lot of patience and dedication, I found a solution. That’s the approach I take to this situation, and I firmly believe that I will come back stronger.”

What this means for Djokovic’s 2018 season, and beyond, remains to be seen (he will continue working with coach Andre Agassi, it was also revealed). But if 2016 marked the end of Djokovic’s roaring twenties, 2017 was his great depression.

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