Can Novak Djokovic’s avoid injuries based on his style of play and age?

Novak Djokovic’s comeback has been delayed. He has had enough of injuries and missing tennis, and he now wants to avoid injuries. “I’ve learned a lesson because I really want to avoid getting to that stage of an injury ever in my career after this,” Djokovic said.

Novak Djokovic’s style of play and susceptibility to injuries.

However, with his style of play and him crossing 30, he’d either have to miss a significant portion of the season nursing sore elbows, ankles, and other joints or undergo another surgery within twelve months.

Novak may have the ability to pull off an aggressive play but his mindset, shaped and honed to out-match Rafael Nadal at consistency, compels him to prolong points and not end them. His surefire belief in his movement and elasticity allows him to execute the retriever’s game style very well. His attempts to serve and volley or approaching the net end mostly in failures because of his mindset again. He seems to forget even the most basic court geometry and finds himself caught in awkward positions while approaching the net.

Djokovic’s flexibility has helped him reach unreachable balls.

Novak Djokovic is an exceptional mover and is willing to do whatever it takes to reach the ball and put it back into play. He doesn’t compromise reach for balance and poise and is very comfortable being out of balance while executing shots. Novak’s amazing stretches, lunges, and gymnast like dynamic splits are legendary and help him reach just about any unreachable ball and then execute that perfect shot for a jaw-dropping winner. This kind of shot-making from a position of perfect imbalance is possible only for the very muscular, like Rafael Nadal, or the extremely flexible like our man, Novak Djokovic.

The very flexibility which helped Novak avoid injuries prior to his 29th birthday will now be the cause of injuries unless allowed enough time between matches for the joints and muscles to recover. However, in a tournament, it is not possible to ask for an extra day or two for recovery after each round. Djokovic will have no option but to play the next round when scheduled, which may not allow his muscles and joints the time needed for recovery. The shots that Novak has hit from positions of gross imbalance while lunging, stretching, and executing perfect splits and contortions have had their cumulative impact on his body and now bother him as niggling and even serious injuries. Now that he is 30, he will get to enjoy more of that happy zone where he can binge watch Game Of Thrones, and spend quality time with the family.

Novak will either have to reduce the number of tournaments or succumb to further injuries.

While Roger Federer’s tennis is aggressive and played with perfect balance, Novak Djokovic’s style of play, coupled with his age, on the other hand, will make it quite difficult for him to avoid injuries. He will either need to cut down to about half the number of tournaments that Roger Federer plays, at the age of 36, or wave his final goodbye to pro-tennis within twenty-four months.