Some nine years ago there were Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro where our Serbia was also well represented. Over one hundred members competed in various sports and half of them earned a medal! Not bad for a small country, is it?
By then Novak Djokovic won many tournaments on his way to number one ranking in the world. The only two events he was not able to win were a tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Olympic gold medal. You may remember that I wrote an article in “Liberty” (СЛОБОДА) in which I tried to console Novak because he had broken down and cried uncontrollably after losing in the very first round of the competition. I told him that it was ok to cry, that he had shown the world that he was human.
Since that day, however, Novak Djokovic won many other tennis matches and continued to amaze the sports lovers with his brilliance. This is not to say that there were not some stumbles between his many victories, but he was believed to be the greatest of all times, and we all shared in his glory. And yes, he did win both the Olympic Gold, and the Cincinnati Open.
A human body can only endure so much. He played hurt, he paid the price for competing in so many battles for so many years, and we, his admirers, suffered with his every fall, his every defeat. Since this elegant game is being played all over the globe, at all times of the day and night, to follow our star we had to get up at many ungodly hours to watch our hero.
I must admit, there were times when I suffered while watching Novak play. Time waits for no one, old stars fade away, and new stars emerge. He does not have anything to proof to anybody, he has done it all, and I would not blame him if he just simply walked away from the court.
Last Sunday, Novak played the finals at the Miami Open, leaving behind players like Dimitrov, Alcaraz, to mention a few. His opponent, a 19 years old Jacub Minsik from Chechia, who also quietly advanced to the finals, beat Novak in the first set. Somehow, I refused to think of Novak’s age, I waited for him to win the second set and play the deciding third set- and win the match. The young Chech moved better, served better, he played better than our champion.
It was difficult for me to watch Novak sitting on the bench waiting for the customary trophy presentation. He did not cry, he just waited for the ceremony to be over. The 19 year old Chech player signed the photo lens with “ 1st of many!”, and I can only imagine what went through Novak’s mind at that very moment. End of an era?
At one point of the match Novak fell flat on his back chasing the ball. I could not watch the trophy presentation. That night I was unable to fall asleep. I cannot help it, that is how I react to losing, be it when watching my favorite team, be it my favorite player. I am getting to be too old to go through all this anymore. Who am I to tell somebody to stop competing? Knowing Novak Djokovic and his perseverance he will probably just brush himself off and wait for another tournament. “Do not do this to me anymore, Novak! “
Next time I will wait for the final result and watch Novak’s reruns – if he should win! If he does not win, I will skip that match. I guess I am a coward. May be I am, or, I probably have a low threshold for pain. 3.31.2025
