Novak Djokovic admits there was a year in his career when he wanted to ‘leave’ tennis

Regardless of his shocking recent losses, which many believe to be the beginning of the end of his legendary career, Novak Djokovic has established himself as the greatest tennis player of all time.

Djokovic, who dropped outside the top ten for the first time since 2018 after losing in the first round of the US Open, has broken almost every record there is to break in professional tennis.

Advertisement

Most notably, the Serb has the most Grand Slam titles of any man in the history of his sport with 24, and he is still in search of more.

But like every great athlete, along with his many triumphs, it has not always been plain sailing for Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic reflects on his 2010 season on the ATP Tour

In an interview with GQ, Djokovic said: "Many times I have experienced great lessons in my career.

"The greatest lessons are always coming with, if you want to call them failures, or the matches that you lose, or facing a major injury, when you're really questioning everything around yourself, or yourself like deep inside, whether you have what it takes or not.

Advertisement

I think that's where you really have a golden nugget, or a golden opportunity to really grow out of it, stronger, more capable, more resilient as a human being, but also as a professional athlete.

"Let's pick one: 2010, when I wanted to leave tennis.

"I didn't know whether I had what it takes, and I wasn't able to crack the top spot of the world. I was losing to Federer and Nadal, my two greatest rivals, in most of the big matches we played each other in those years.

"I was really stressed out about everything that was happening. It was one of the biggest turning points, I would say."

Advertisement

2010 marked one of the few seasons in Djokovic's career in which he went without a big title.

Though he was able to help Serbia capture the Davis Cup crown that year, Djokovic failed to win a Grand Slam, a Masters 1000 title or the ATP Finals in 2010.

He tallied two quarterfinal exits at Grand Slams, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Australian Open and suffering a shocking defeat to 22nd seed Jurgen Melzer at Roland Garros.

At Wimbledon, Djokovic lost to Tomas Berdych in straight sets in the semifinals.

He made the US Open final, but fell to Rafael Nadal, whom he lost to again at the ATP Finals later that year.

Advertisement

In 2010, Djokovic did not beat Nadal and lost four matches against Roger Federer.

How Novak Djokovic responded in 2011 after his 2010 season

Putting the 2010 campaign behind him, Djokovic went on to record one of the best seasons of all time in 2011.

Djokovic won three of the four Grand Slam titles in 2011, hoisting trophies at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, while losing in the semifinals of Roland Garros.

He also won five consecutive ATP Masters 1000 titles: Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome and Canada.

That year, Djokovic recorded his second-best season win rate with 92%, second only to his historic 2015 campaign, when he tallied 93%.

Despite losing in the round robin of the 2011 ATP Finals, he finished the season as the year-end number one for the first time in his career.

Click here to read article