“It’s not a gift, it’s something that comes with work,” Novak Djokovic said in an interview about his mental strength. Djokovic, along with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, has raised the bar when it comes to their tenacity and sustenance in tennis, dominating the sport for decades and winning a combined 66 grand slam together! Although now Djokovic has a positive head-to-head record against the duo on-court, the longstanding debate of who surpasses whom in terms of “mental toughness”, is still in doubt, with most siding with Federer and Nadal. However, Andy Roddick’s refreshing honesty has shed light on Djokovic’s career, revealing a more nuanced side of the Serb!

Novak Djokovic, with his record of being at the top for 428 weeks and a player with the most grand slams, has been ruling the sport for decades now. If we take an example of this season alone, we will find that he did not earn any title, fell to the No. 2 ranking, suffered with his knee injury, and even had surgery. Moreover, the 37-year-old did not have a fruitful time defending his title in the US Open and the French Open as well. However, Djokovic kept on grinding in the tennis circuit, irrespective of the result, and we finally saw it translate into his momentous victory at the Olympics, where he clinched his first gold medal (or, in that matter, his first medal since 2008) and completed the career golden slam. 

Referring to his ability to not conform to the traditional mold of mental strength, Roddick shared his opinion with Kim Clijsters in the Sept 10th episode of the podcast called ‘Served’, when she appreciated the mental toughness of the 2024 US Open winner Aryna Sabalenka. “And I feel like certain times we have this picture of what mental toughness is, right? And it’s like, so Borg didn’t say anything. So he’s, he’s mentally tough. Rafa is allergic to negative, showing negative energy, right? Roger is calm, cool and collected. It feels like we didn’t give Novak enough credit for how mentally tough he is for a long time, because he emotes, right?” said the 2003 US Open winner.

Federer and Nadal have often spoken about the mindset behind their resilience in tennis. In an interview, the 20 Grand Slam champion confessed how mental toughness and strength are the key components behind the longevity and success of a player. Per him, he acquired the right balance of maintaining his coolness and anger after grinding for three years on-court, as he focused on seeing “the positives in some tough moments.” Nadal, on the other hand, believes, “..never do I think I’m going to go out and win because I’m better than the other player.” 

Perhaps it is this humility that has kept him grounded for decades as he navigated through challenges in his life, be it striving to regain his form on-court or to deal with his persistent hip injury. However, per Roddick, Djokovic has remained in the shadow for too long in this case. Nevertheless, Novak Djokovic has often revealed his take on the importance of mental strength, sometimes sharing how one can develop it with ease.

Novak Djokovic’s perspective on how to build mental strength!

During an interview, Novak Djokovic revealed how he relied on “conscious breathing,” as an important technique to fight off his inner turmoil during a match. The Serb is aware that some people might have an innate ability to endure everything, but he believes anyone can acquire it if they work on it with dedication. Further illustrating his point, Djokovic said, “I don’t like this kind of a mindset that I see a lot of in sports like just think positive thoughts be optimistic, there’s no room for failure, there’s no room for, you know, for doubts and stuff like this. It’s impossible. You are a human being.”

Instead, he prefers the ability of players who choose not to “stay in those emotions for too long”. “So, for me, it’s really relatively short, so as soon as I experience it, I acknowledge it, I maybe burst, I scream on the court, or whatever happens, but then I’m able to bounce back and reset,” he concluded. Novak Djokovic’s insightful views further add to Roddick’s statements, revealing how the Olympic gold medalist is redefining our understanding of mental toughness in tennis!