Novak Djokovic had a breathless early season run through the French Open when he became just the fourth player ever to hold all four major titles at the same time. Wow. But then he hit a clunky speed bump. He fell early both a Wimbledon and the Olympics. More disturbing, there were many whispers about private issues which had seemingly impacted his play. Before the US Open, when Djokovic was asked to explain, he said, “I apologize, but it’s tough to go back now and talk about that. It was nothing physical. It wasn’t an injury. It was some other things that i was going through privately.”
When he was asked whether he’d resolved the issues, he replied, “Yes – everything is fine. Like all of you, I have private issues, and things that are more challenges than issues, things that we…have to overcome in order to evolve as human beings. That was the period for me [at Wimbledon[, it…was resolved – and life goes on.”
We could have left it at that. Instead, we asked him how he’d grown. The Serb got philosophical and replied, “[As with] anybody else,” he said, “life arranged things to happen so you can evolve. Whether you recognize those circumstances as an opportunity to grow, that really depends on how conscious you are.
“I’m really grateful to be able to have that consciousness at the moment. Hopefully I’m on the right path. As everybody else, I’m trying, day in and day out, to find new ways of motivating myself to play tennis.
“I have more than enough happiness in my life, and blessings as a father and husband. Life is wonderful…I cannot complain and whine about the issues that everybody has each day, privately and professionally.
“But that’s a beautiful thing. When you expect it the least, that’s when you have things coming at you as life’s lessons. I’m glad that I’m able to accept and greet them with a consciousness of wanting to evolve and wanting to get the best out of them.”
Novak told the US Open crowd that stepping out onto Ashe Staium was like “emerging out of a dark tunnel: at least there’s a beautiful light at the end.” His observation seemed to echo perfectly his summer of tough-love growth and struggle.
After losing a bruising US Open final to Stan Wawrinka, Novak withdrew from the China Open and confided that a “micro-injury” hurt his serve at the US Open. Then he explained, “I psychologically felt huge pressure, and now I’m no longer thinking about the number of titles [I win]. If they come, super, I will accept them. After all, tennis is not the only thing in the world.”
