Will Novak Djokovic find it tougher to compete because his great rivals have retired? Andre Agassi cites an example from his career
Eight-time Major winner Andre Agassi said that Novak Djokovic might find it difficult to emotionally given that his great rivals have now retired but warned not to right him off.
At 37, Djokovic is at the business end of his career too, and has seen the retirements recently of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray – the once Big Four. Agassi cited the experience from his own career where he had to deal with the retirement of his great rival Pete Sampras.
“He’s already done so much, so long, and it’s hard to imagine longer. I think he’ll run out of the energy for it more than the capability of it, I would imagine,” Agassi at an event in Bengaluru, according to PTI.
“It cannot be easy, especially when the people you came to the dance with have left,” Agassi said. “When Pete (Sampras) retired, it was a blow to me. It set me back a little bit. It made me have to rediscover my inspirations on some level. And he’s (Djokovic) lost the guys that he’s made history with. So, it’s probably emotionally going to get tougher and tougher quickly, but I would never bet against him. Bet against him at your own peril.”
Incidentally, it is to one of his great rivals that Djokovic has turned to, in order to level up after not winning a Major in 2024 (he did win the Olympic gold). Former world No 1 Murray has been roped in by Djokovic to be his coach.
“They’ve been fierce rivals on court, and now Murray will be coaching Djokovic. Well, in any coaching student relationship, you need trust. Trust can take time,” Agassi said. “I think there’s an asset to their history as competitors, but any success of a relationship is based on complete buy-in.”
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