by The tennis world has been hit hard since Rafael Nadal announced his retirement from tennis a week ago.
The Spaniard will bow out of the sport after 23 years following the conclusion of the Davis Cup final in November.
Rafael Nadal has won 22 Grand Slam championships throughout his illustrious career, and he has done so with great passion and flair.
He defeated his great rival Novak Djokovic and won some of those titles, and their rivalry goes down as one of the greatest in tennis history.
What impact could Rafael Nadal’s retirement have on Novak Djokovic?
In the past, some tennis players have admitted how affected they were by a rival quitting the sport. John McEnroe was never the same after his biggest rival Bjorn Borg shockingly retired from tennis in 1981 at the age of 25.
Nadal was overcome with emotion as she shed tears alongside Roger Federer as the Swiss maestro was eliminated from the 2022 Laver Cup.
Djokovic has since admitted to feeling a sense of emptiness as his biggest rivals leave the sport, and Tennis Podcast member Matt Roberts thinks that will take a significant toll on Djokovic going forward.
In fact, he made a bold prediction about how long the Serb will continue playing professional tennis. “We have to take into account the context of Nadal’s resignation. I really think that has an impact on Djokovic,” said Matt Roberts.
“He gave a great quote where he said part of me goes with them and talked about how Federer, Nadal and Murray have all recently retired. If it doesn’t pay off, I think he’ll suddenly feel a bit lonely out there in the first half of next year.
“Without his biggest rivals he has these two new younger rivals that he finds difficult to beat at this point. I think next year will be very interesting for Novak Djokovic.
“I’m leaning towards the fact that maybe we won’t see Novak Djokovic until next year, that’s how it feels to me at the moment.”
Novak Djokovic told what he needs to find to beat Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner again
In the last episode of the tennis podcast, the jury debated whether Djokovic has lost his motivation after achieving everything in the game.
Winning the Olympic gold medal was the one title Djokovic craved more than any other, and he finally achieved that goal in August.
In his best performance of the season, Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz 7:6, 7:6 and became Olympic champion in Paris.
But Roberts isn’t sure Djokovic can rekindle that kind of motivation for the rest of his career and believes he will need it if he wants to beat Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner again.
“The best performance I’ve probably seen all year was still Djokovic in the Olympics final, but I don’t think he’ll ever be that motivated for anything again in his entire career,” Roberts said.
“An extra slam would be great, it would be a real bonus, but I think Olympic gold would be necessary.” If he hadn’t had that, his career wouldn’t have been over.
“It’s finished now and he doesn’t have that advantage in these games and he needs that advantage to beat Alcaraz and Sinner now.”
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