Novak Djokovic's Interview with Piers Morgan: A Deep Dive into Tennis' GOAT Debate and His Career
Following Cristiano Ronaldo's interview with Piers Morgan, the broadcaster sat down with 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, the greatest men's tennis player of the modern era. At 38, Djokovic is entering the latter stages of his career, and the interview delved into a range of topics, from Jannik Sinner's doping case to his status as the GOAT in tennis and how he wants to be remembered.
The GOAT Debate
Djokovic declined to label himself as the best of all time, steering clear of direct comparisons with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Instead, he focused on the challenges of comparing tennis eras, noting the sport's significant transformation over the last 50 years. "I'm not going to say whether I'm the greatest or not because it's not my position to say that," he said. "And I would say that would be very disrespectful to those who have paved the way for Nadal, Federer, and all the others."
Morgan, showing off his tennis gear knowledge, mentioned rackets, balls, surfaces, and entourage dynamics. Djokovic added that changes in preparation intensity and the quality of data and information available to players also play a role in the comparison.
He named John McEnroe and Björn Borg as legendary players who paved the way for his generation. Djokovic also considers his former coach, six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker, to be "part of my family."
Twilight of His Career and the Rise of Sinner and Alcaraz
At the U.S. Open, Djokovic acknowledged that Grand Slams are no longer the most realistic places to beat Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who have dominated men's tennis in the past two years. He's also aiming to play in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, describing his current phase as a "transition" where he seeks to maintain motivation while managing the "realities" of his physical condition.
"Being the dominant player for most of my career, for over 20 years, and now being dominated by Alcaraz and Sinner ..." Morgan interjected, asking how humiliating that is. "It's a natural progress and evolution in sport," Djokovic replied. "They're great for our sport."
Djokovic explained that he didn't want to watch the French Open final between Alcaraz and Sinner because he wanted to switch off entirely after a tournament. He took his family out for the day to avoid it, but they ended up watching anyway. "My best level now, their best level now — they're better. That's the reality," he added.
Physical Condition and the Mental Game
Morgan then turned to Djokovic's physical condition, which he says is about understanding his body and what it can achieve as he ages. Djokovic acknowledged that he still thinks of himself as a "superman who can never injure himself or be weak," but he's "had a slap from reality the last couple of years." Despite this, he remains confident that he will beat whoever is on the other side of the net.
Not Just a Tennis Player
After discussing the differences in pressure between personal and private lives, Djokovic recalled his childhood in Belgrade during the Kosovo War. He emphasized that he doesn't enter the tennis court as a tennis player but as a person "who has to deal with all the other things that are happening in my private life that people don't know about or shouldn't know about."
When asked about the circumstances that most affected his performance, Djokovic said adversity fuels him, especially in the early part of his career. However, he can get "fed up" with drawing things from negative emotions. Positivity is a more "constructive energy," he said. His realization that he wants to prioritize his family in his late career has helped him shift his mindset in that direction.
"One of the greatest motivations is to have both of my children experience their daddy winning Grand Slams and being there. And I have been so blessed and fortunate to experience that multiple times now," he said. He added that it would be a dream to play his son, Stefan, 11, in a competitive match, joking that he wouldn't go easy on him and would "kick his beep."
The Peak of His Career
Djokovic referred to the period from 2015 until the middle of 2016 as the peak of his career, when he won five out of the available six Grand Slams, reaching the final of the other. In the period from the start of 2015 until the end of the 2016 French Open, his record was 126-9. He believes no player in tennis history could have stemmed his period of domination and described feeling "empty" when his results took a major downturn in the second half of 2016.
Sinner's Doping Case
After Morgan made a joke about Sinner and Alcaraz being so good they might be robots, he asked Djokovic about whether top players get treated at a different level. Djokovic referred to his deportation from Australia in 2022, saying, "That cloud will follow him as the cloud of Covid will follow me."
He then addressed the issue that has dogged tennis since Sinner's case: the assumption that a sport demonstrably two-tiered in financing, court preference, match-time preference, practice schedules, sponsorship deals, and more is the same at the anti-doping level, even when cases are conducted according to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) protocols.
"It's just something that was so major. … Over time, it will fade, but I don't think it will ever disappear," Djokovic said. Morgan then asked if Djokovic believed Sinner, and he said he always came across very genuine when they were training at Riccardo Piatti's academy in Italy.
"When this happened, I was shocked, honestly," he said. "I do think that he didn't do it on purpose, but the way the whole case was handled is so many red flags."
Morgan ventured that if Sinner had been world No. 500, he would have been banned, which is entirely possible given the huge legal disparity in resources between a player of Sinner's renown and someone lower in the world rankings, a disparity Djokovic encapsulated as "preferable treatment." He also talked about a "lack of consistency" and the "convenience" of the three-month ban, meaning Sinner wouldn't miss any of the Grand Slams.
Morgan tried to get a joke out of Djokovic relating to Sinner's name, but he didn't play along.
Retirement and Legacy
When asked how he would like to be remembered, Djokovic cited Nikola Pilić, the Croatian player and coach whom he has long called his "tennis father" and who died in September. He said Pilić's funeral was the first one he had ever attended "because of his avoidance of the emotions and the sadness" that led him to miss the funeral of his great-grandfather.
"The human connections that he (Pilić) has left behind and established throughout his life and his career," Djokovic said. "How he touched people's hearts who were not just there at the funeral, but at the tennis club, post-funeral. … The way people talked about him, it was not about tennis and what he has achieved as a player, as a coach, who he has coached. It was about who he was as a person, how he conducted himself with people, how he changed the lives of young people or anybody who he has (been) coming close to. That's how I want to be remembered."
