Novak Djokovic has been creating plenty of headlines in recent days and only some of them have been on a tennis court.
We can start with Djokovic’s continued brilliance with a racket in his hands, as the most successful male tennis player of all time confirmed he can still win titles at the highest level by lifting the trophy at the ATP 250 event in his new homeland of Athens in Greece on Saturday.
After moving his young family to Greece earlier this year due to his discomfort with the tide of political opinion in his beloved Serbian homeland, Djokovic’s joy as he won the 101st title of his remarkable career was evident as he displayed raw emotion by ripping his shirt after he beat Lorenzo Musetti in a thrilling final.
The achievement of a 38-year-old beating a player 15 years his junior and ranked at No.9 in the world cannot be underestimated, yet there was a sideshow to his Greek triumph that also concluded as he shook Musetti’s hand at the net after his victory.
Djokovic qualified for the prestigious ATP Tour Finals in Turin several weeks ago, but he refused to confirm whether he would take up his place in the tournament and dodged questions about the subject for the last month.
Djokovic’s seven wins in the ATP Finals make him the most successful player in the tournament’s history, but his desire to compete in the event has waned at the back end of his career and he pulled out of the Turin event last year well in advance of the draw being made.
Predictably, he also withdrew from this week’s ATP Finals, but the timeline of his withdrawal this year broke several unwritten rules in the sport.
First of all, Djokovic allowed the draw for the Turin tournament to progress with his name included and he was also named on the Order of Play for Monday when it was initially released.
In addition, his refusal to declare his intentions left Lorenzo Musetti and Felix Auger-Aliassime in limbo, as only one of the pair would have qualified for Turin if Djokovic had played.
Musetti was forced to play in the Athens tournament last week as he chased the ranking points he needed to qualify for the ATP Finals and if he had beaten Djokovic in the final of that event, he would have knocked Auger-Aliassime out of the draw.
In the end, both Musetti and Auger-Aliassime qualified for Turin after Djokovic’s withdrawal due to what he described as ‘a long-standing injury’, but why did he delay his decision to announce he would not play in Turin until last Saturday night?
The confusion he inspired could have been avoided if he had stated a week ago that he would not play in the ATP Finals, but some have suggested the chaos he created was not inadvertent.
There is little love lost between ATP Tour chiefs and Djokovic after a series of spats in recent years, with the Professional Tennis Players Association he helped to create at loggerheads with the organisation that currently runs men’s tennis.
Djokovic’s gripe with the ATP is focused on the lack of money shared with the players in tennis and also an exhaustive schedule that few players are enjoying, so he will be making no apologies after using his power and influence to disrupt the ATP’s flagship tournament.
What comes next for Djokovic could involve some kind of breakaway tour and he made broad hints that plans may already be in place for something new in tennis as he spoke at the Joy Forum in Saudi Arabia last month.
“Our sport is a big monopoly that has been there for decades,” said Djokovic. “I’m always looking for a place where there is innovation and thankfully with my achievements, I have a platform and a mic in my hand and I can say certain things that will hurt a lot of people and disturb along of chairs, but I don’t care. At the end of the day, I love this sport. This sport has given me everything in my life, so I want to give it back.
“I feel like tennis is a sport that can be greatly transformed and I want to be part of that change, not just part of their change, but I want to be playing when we kind of rejuvenate our sport and set the new platform that is going to go on for decades to come.”
Many observers concluded that Djokovic’s comments hinted at an alternative tennis tour that may be similar to the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf tour that has been so disruptive for that sport in recent years.
If Djokovic were to lead a Saudi-backed alternative tennis tour, the current order of the men’s game would face its biggest shake-up in a couple of generations.
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz may be winning all the big titles in tennis right now, but Djokovic’s loud voice still echoes around the sport and he is likely to ensure that it continues to do so when his days on court come to an end.
Photos: Riyadh Season