"He can only do it for a couple of years": Former world number three predicts Novak Djokovic's career to follow same path as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal

Former world number three Nikolay Davydenko believes that Serbia’s Novak Djokovic is trying to ‘cheat’ the nature. The 37-year-old is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.

Djokovic has gone through a mixed campaign in 2024. It was the first season in seven years where he failed to win a single Grand Slam title. His best outing in a major event came at Wimbledon, where he finished as the runner-up after losing in the final to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-2, 7-6. However, Djokovic will remember the 2024 season for all the right reasons, and he managed to complete his trophy cabinet after finally winning an Olympic gold medal for his country.

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He achieved the milestone in Paris as he defeated Alcaraz in the final of the singles category in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 7-6. Former world number three Davydenko has recently spoken to Match TV, as quoted by Tennis 365, where he talked about how Djokovic is trying to ‘cheat nature’ by proving that age is ‘no problem’ for him. However, the 43-year-old was of the opinion that the former world number one will eventually lose this battle after a couple of years.

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“I’m 43 years old… If I finished at 25 because of an injury, I could come back at 30 after recovering. At my age, my body can’t cope with such loads,” he said. “Nadal wasn’t even 40, and he couldn’t physically fight with professionals from the top 50 at the same level. It’s useless. Federer at 40 tried to prove he was tough. But he didn’t prove anything. Djokovic is doing the same thing now, he is trying to show that age is no problem for him. Novak is trying to cheat nature, but he can only do it for a couple of years. We are not robots. The loads are serious, injuries happen. Take any current tennis player – everyone had, has or will have health problems. Everyone finishes their career because of injuries that limit our training.”

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