Tennis: Benoît Paire executioner of a career? The incredible revelation of the Djokovic clan

Holder of a Master’s degree in sports journalism, I fell in love with tennis since childhood and have always loved reading the great stories of this sport. Today, I want to tell them about them, take full advantage of my passion and be as close as possible to the aces of the circuit.

At the top of world tennis this year, Novak Djokovic could have taken a completely different trajectory in his career. The Serbian, spared from injuries since his debut, almost gave up everything in 2018, when he was going through a very difficult period. It was also a surprising defeat against Benoît Paire in Miami which gave rise to serious doubts about the greatest player of all time. A look back at this traumatic episode.

Huge tennis legend, Novak Djokovic dragged on to accomplish a great goal for a player of this caliber: to succeed in winning all the tournaments of the Grand Slam at least once. The Serbian achieved this feat for the first time in 2016 at Roland-Garros and released the pressure afterwards experiencing some decline mixed with persistent elbow discomfort. Five years ago, he could have made an incredible decision…

Mental and physical fatigue

Unlike many players, Novak Djokovic experienced almost no physical suffering due to injury. The year 2017 was that of decline: he lost in the second round of theAustralian Open to everyone’s surprise and had a series of somewhat disappointing results until his retirement in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, too embarrassed by his elbow. Finally, he ends his season by stating that he needs to take a break because he has been suffering for a long time. A little less focused since he won the 4 Grand Slams, the Serbian is taking time to come back even if his operation at the beginning of 2018 went well.

Tennis: Caroline Garcia, what if this was the match she needed? https://t.co/XvjQf70Cm1 pic.twitter.com/Vm8z8ANbhG

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One defeat too many…

For his return to the circuit, Novak Djokovic undergoes the law of an excellent Hyeon Chung at theAustralian Open and things got worse in the following months as the Serbian did not play any other tournament until the clay season apart fromIndian Wells et Miami. Result: two initial defeats against the Japanese Daniel and… Benoît Paire. A significant episode for the clan Djokovic. “After that match, he wanted to quit. He gathered everyone on his team and said, ‘You know what: I’m done, I’m done.’ We cried and told him he couldn’t do this, it wasn’t the right time. He didn’t want to play tennis anymore, he didn’t even want to see a ball go by. He didn’t want to know anything at all.” declared the champion’s wife, Jelena Djokovic.

A comeback stronger than ever

Eventually, Novak Djokovic took some time with family during the holidays and decided to return to the circuit with great motivation. However, everything could have gone differently for the 31-year-old at the time. The rest, we all know it: since this passage, he has won 12 tournaments of the Grand Slam, or half of its total. Simply monstrous.