‘He Is Chasing Ghosts’ – Andy Roddick Gets Real About Novak Djokovic’s ‘Motivation’ Ahead of Wimbledon 2024

Novak Djokovic’s 25th Grand Slam dream turned sour. Aiming for a record 11th Australian Open title, the legend fell short in a shocking upset to a young Italian challenger. His own words painted a grim picture: “This is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I’ve ever played.” The French Open offered no redemption. A hard-fought victory in the quarterfinals masked a deeper issue – a torn meniscus. Forced to withdraw, the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s season took a concerning turn. Now is the time for the oldest tournament of the sport, Wimbledon. Can Djoker pull this one to finally make the dream come true? Andy Roddick has mixed views.

Andy Roddick recently spoke to Genie Bouchard and host Steve Weissman about current World No. 3 in the Tennis Channel Live Podcast. Before talking about Djoker’s shrouded Wimbledon participation, Steve shed light on how they were in a similar setup. One year back, they were discussing whether Novak Djokovic could win 30 major titles since he reached the finals of every major last year. Revisiting the same this year, Steve put across a question for Andy if Novak can win at least one other major this year?

Roddick, while answering the question, brought two aspects into play. One reflected his positive outlook and a subtle affirmation: “Yeah, if I had a better one, I would say yes. I mean, listen, what you are asking… is health and motivation, the game he can still play. His down year. He’s made it; the semis and the quarters of the first two slams of the year are good results.”

Andy Roddick added to his take on Novak Djokovic saying, “So, I think so, I still think he is the “best grass court player in the world” when healthy.” This is even true, as he holds eight titles on grass, with seven at Wimbledon, just behind Roger Federer who holds eight Wimbledon titles. Adding further to the conversation, Roddick put across his second aspect revolving around running time and age for Novak. “But he is not young anymore and time is on its feet and he has certainly given it hell….he is chasing the ghosts at this point as far as the record goes.”

Just a few weeks ago, the 2003 US Open champion made a contrary statement about Djokovic when he got injured during Roland Garros. “Let’s get healthy for next year,” said Andy on his Served podcast. He wanted Novak to sit out for the rest of 2024 and return fully healthy in 2025. While Andy is not confident about Novak Djokovic making a comeback at Wimbledon with his injury issues, other players like Taylor Fritz and Marion Bartoli have clear things to say about the same.

Bold opinions on Novak Djokovic’s Wimbledon Prospects

Former champion Marion Bartoli dropped a bombshell, claiming Novak Djokovic has a “greater chance” of competing than sitting out due to injury. This intel, according to Bartoli, comes straight from Djokovic’s physiotherapist. If the Serbian star does grace the grass courts, Bartoli confidently predicts he’ll be “one of the two favorites” to lift the trophy.

Taylor Fritz, who recovered from a similar injury at RG 2021 to play Wimbledon, says that Novak reached out to him: “You pretty much have your full strength immediately….As long as you can get that down and start playing without it puffing up again, you’re actually going to be fine to play.”

The recent training video of Novak Djokovic has also grabbed a lot of attention. With the debate on going that Novak might make a comeback at Wimbledon. Whether that will be his next move or not will be revealed in the upcoming days. There are chances he might miss Wimbledon just like Rafael Nadal and represent his country in the upcoming Olympics. Nevertheless, let us know your thoughts about the same in the comments section.