'Once he retires, we will go back to normality' - Ivan Ljubicic commends Novak Djokovic's longevity, hints it will not be seen again

38-year-old Novak Djokovic has exceeded expectation of the tennis world, not just with his record-breaking 24 Grand Slams but with his longevity in the game. With a career spanning over 20 years, there is still no sign of him dropping off.

This year, he has made it to three Grand Slam semi-finals, losing out to world number one Jannik Sinner in the last two and retiring in Melbourne against Alexander Zverev. He also won his 100th ATP singles title, coming back from a set down to defeat Hubert Hurkacz 5-7, 7-6, 7-6 in Geneva. He also made a Masters 1000 final just before this in Miami, losing out to Jakub Mensik.

Despite not winning a Grand Slam since the US Open in 2023, he is still being named with Alcaraz and Sinner, boasting some of the best stats at Wimbledon en route to the semi-final. He even completed his decorated collection last year with an Olympic gold medal in the singles. With no sign of a close retirement, his fitness and consistency has been praised by many, including Roger Federer's ex-coach Ivan Ljubicic.

Ljubicic astounded by Djokovic's longevity

The Serbian's carrer has left people speechless, amazed by not just how many titles he has won, but the fact that he is still competing to almost that identical level now. He has done brilliantly throughout his career to keep his body healthy, only having missed three Grand Slams since his debut in 2005, with two of them cropping up in 2022. The next year, he reached the final of every Grand Slam, only losing the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets.

Since 2010, he has failed to make a final of a Grand Slam twice, in 2017 and this year, with the US Open still to come. He goes into it in many people's eyes as the third favouroite, obviously behind Alcaraz and last year's champion Sinner, but no one should write off the four-time champion.

On X, tennis writer Christopher Clarey posted a fascinating stat, which revealed that Djokovic is nine years older than anyone else in the top 20, with Karen Khachanov the second in that list at 29. Ljubicic replied to that tweet, as he wrote: “Once he retires, we will go back to normality, where humans will not be able to be competitive at highest level after certain age.”