Novak Djokovic’s return to form after injury offers some reassurances for Andy Murray

Novak Djokovic has become the latest member of the Big Four to win a Grand Slam following a poor run of form and a potentially career-threatening injury.
Few of the Serb’s 13 major titles will have felt as sweet as this one, after being written off by many and having admitted several moments of doubt, Djokovic has announced his return to the top of the game by winning arguably the greatest tournament in tennis.
He is back in the top 10 in the ATP rankings and he can only go further with no points to defend for the rest of the season, having taken a six-month break from the game after Wimbledon last year.
So why do we continue to write these great champions off? Roger Federer struggled badly in 2013 and failed to win a Grand Slam for nearly five years. Rafael Nadal looked like a shell of his former self in 2015, failing to win a clay court title for the first time in his career.
They have both returned to the top of the game, winning the previous six Grand Slams between them before Djokovic’s victory at Wimbledon.
Yes, you can point to the failings of the younger generation for not improving enough, but the way that Federer, Nadal and now Djokovic have overcome adversity is admirable.
It has been obvious over the last few years that since Djokovic won the 2016 French Open he had not been the same player. Shock defeats to players such as Sam Querrey and Dennis Istomin had become a worrying trend.
An elbow injury forced the Serb to pull out of a Wimbledon quarter-final against Tomas Berdych last year, before he decided to have surgery on the injury in February this year after it had failed to heal.
However, there has been a noticeable change in Djokovic’s fortunes over the past few months and since the re-appointment of his long-time coach and friend Marian Vajda back in April, things have gradually improved.
Many will point to him reaching the final at the Queen’s Club a few weeks ago, but it was obvious that things were starting to click during the clay-court season, particularly in Rome where he reached the semi-finals, pushing Nadal in a tight match.
Now like Federer and Nadal, Djokovic has returned to the top of the game and the other member of the Big Four, Andy Murray, can look on with some encouragement.
Yes, Murray has taken a longer period out of the game and is having to recover from a more serious injury than the others, but his performances upon his return at the Queen’s Club and Eastbourne have been encouraging.
A highly competitive match against Nick Kyrgios was followed by a superb win over an all be it equally injury ravaged Stan Wawrinka.
Murray didn’t feel fit enough to deal with the rigours of best of five set matches at Wimbledon, so decided to pull out, but he is set to begin his preparations for the US Open at the Washington Open at the end of the month.
Hopefully, like Novak, Rafa and Roger, Andy can return and prolong the greatest era in the history of men’s tennis.
Follow Isaac Seelochan on Twitter.
Latest
-
WTA Tour
Silicon Valley Classic: Shelby Rogers chasing first title in showdown with Daria Kasatkina
Shelby Rogers will face Russian No 1 Daria Kasatkina in Sunday’s championship match.
-
ATP Tour
Nick Kyrgios on the brink of ending ATP Tour title drought
Nick Kyrgios is one win away from ending his three-year singles title drought.
-
ATP Tour
Daniil Medvedev claims first title of 2022 after downing Cameron Norrie
Medvedev moves up to fifth in the ATP Race To Turin thanks to the 250 points he has banked in Mexico.
-
ATP Tour
Montreal draw: Daniil Medvedev set for nightmare opener against Nick Kyrgios
Taylor Fritz faces Andy Murray in one of the highlights of the first round.
-
Tennis Features
How much is tennis legend John McEnroe worth?
John McEnroe owns several properties and continues to do broadcasting work.
-
News
Los Cabos: Cameron Norrie eye on third ATP Tour title of 2022
The British number one battled to a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory in the semi-finals.
-
Tennis News
Citi Open: Nick Kyrgios marches on as Dan Evans is upset
Nick Kyrgios is chasing a repeat of 2019 and a first title since his last DC Triumph.
-
WTA Tour
Toronto draw: Stacked top quarter could be seeds graveyard
The Toronto Masters has no soft paths to glory.
-
WTA Tour
Citi Open: Emma Raducanu falls to Liudmila Samsonova
Fellow Brit Dan Evans also went down in Washington.
-
WTA Tour
Exclusive – Former British No 1 with an upbeat verdict on Emma Raducanu
Durie has backed the young Brit to find her form if she can steer clear of injuries.