Novak Djokovic has just been knocked out of the French Open by Jannik Sinner at the semi-final stage.
It was a hard-fought affair, and the straight-sets defeat does not do justice to how well the 38-year-old performed on the night.
He pushed the world number one to his limits, more than anyone else in the competition managed. Alas, he just did not have enough.
However, not that long ago there was a time when he was ahead of this exceptional Italian, before offering some advice to Darren Cahill, his coach, which has since helped reverse their roles in the world rankings.
Novak Djokovic’s key advice for Jannik Sinner
Speaking live on TNT Sports ahead of yesterday’s match, as he stood just behind Jannik Sinner as he began his practice, Cahill began by praising the legend that is Novak Djokovic whilst previewing their match.
He stated: ‘Honestly, I just think he’s locked in, and he’s the one that stated this, that all of his focus is on performing for the majors, so regardless of what the results were it coming in here, he’s a different player when he’s playing best of five and playing at the majors.
‘So we’re not worrying too much about the form than he shows leading into this event. We really know that he’s going to be up against one of the greatest, if not the greatest of all time tonight, no matter what Novak has been able to do in the tournaments, we saw what he was capable of against Alexander Zverev the other night. So it is going to be one hell of a tough match for Jannik.
‘For a 38-year-old guy, for me, he still moves one of the best players in the world as far as movement is concerned, and we know when it gets to those pressure moments that he’s been there more than anybody else. So Jannik has to really bring his A game.’
The Australian then offered an insight into just how great a custodian Djokovic is of the sport, revealing: ‘Novak was one of the guys that I just went up to and straight asked him after Novak beat Jannik at Wimbledon in five sets.
‘And a lot of the best players will say “Yeah, he’s a great player, he’s gonna be good. He does everything really well. Keep working hard,” all the sort of vanilla stuff, but not Novak.
‘Novak kind of broke his game down where, hey, listen, he needs more variation and needs to improve that serve, he needs to come to the net a little bit more, and he really helped us.
‘Not that we didn’t know where the improvements were going to come from, but more for the fact that Jannik hearing it from Novak gave him a real perspective as to where he needed to improve. So Novak was really helpful to us three years ago in making sure that we’ve made those changes in his game.’
It’s so admirable, and a testament to his exceptional character that Djokovic, despite still competing, remains so keen to further the development of tennis. Even if that means offering the insight needed for a rival to overtake him.
Back in 2022, Sinner was a merely a rising threat, still two years away from winning his maiden Grand Slam title in January of 2024.
However, there were holes in his game that players were exploiting, not least the Serbian who had just beaten him at Wimbledon.
Despite this, and the fact that at this time he was ahead of the 23-year-old, the legendary veteran was more than happy to offer his sage advice for the betterment of his sport, likely knowing the potential that lay within the Italian.
Since then, it’s almost as if they have swapped places, with Sinner now the dominant force on tour alongside Carlos Alcaraz, and Djokovic hinting at a potential retirement.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was willing to sacrifice his spot at the apex of the sport knowing that it would be in better hands with the best of the next generation, and paid the price last night as he dumped him out of the French Open.
His humility and graciousness continue to astound, even when still competing at the top of tennis.
