{"id":990,"date":"2025-09-05T22:38:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T22:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=990"},"modified":"2025-09-05T22:38:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T22:38:35","slug":"martina-navratilovas-brutally-honest-verdict-on-novak-djokovic-after-carlos-alcaraz-hammering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=990","title":{"rendered":"Martina Navratilova\u2019s brutally honest verdict on Novak Djokovic after Carlos Alcaraz hammering"},"content":{"rendered":"

Was that the end of Novak Djokovic<\/a>?<\/p>\n

As Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> inflicted a ruthless 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2 defeat on the 24-time Grand Slam champion in a compelling and often painful US Open<\/a> semi-final, the final act may have given us a big hint that the career of the most successful male player of all-time has reached an end.<\/p>\n

Djokovic smiled as he greeted the brilliant Alcaraz at the net and his smile was in evidence again as he waved to the crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium, potentially for the last time.<\/p>\n

The 24-time Grand Slam champion may not know himself if this was his last match at the US Open and maybe even the final match of his competitive tennis career, but he may now accept that he won\u2019t win the record-breaking 25th Grand Slam he is chasing if he needs to beat Alcaraz or world No 1 Jannik Sinner<\/a> to lift the title.<\/p>\n

The sands of time have caught up with the great man and while he matched Alcaraz for the first two sets of this match, he had nothing more to give long before the last rites were administered to his latest US Open bid.<\/p>\n

More Tennis News<\/h2>\n

Are Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz matching peak Djokovic, Nadal & Federer\u2019s level? Rick Macci weighs in<\/a><\/p>\n

How many Grand Slams did John McEnroe predict Novak Djokovic would win in 2021?<\/a><\/p>\n

If we could glimpse into Djokovic\u2019s mind in that third set, we may have heard the voices of doubt this great champion never had shouting down the belief and optimism that has helped to drive his enduring story of success.<\/p>\n

And when the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Navratilova was asked whether the time has come for him to hang up his rackets, she spoke from personal experience as she gave her answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt stinks,\u201d she said when asked how she felt when she reached the end of her remarkable career on Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went through it. The effort is the same, you feel the same. I didn\u2019t feel that much slower, but you play the right point and you miss it, when you could have made it with your eyes closed 10 years ago. It\u2019s frustrating.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe effort is there, the feeling is very good, but the result is not.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs help from someone now to win because to beat Alcaraz and Sinner, that\u2019s too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former ATP Tour player Ryan Harrison also cast doubt over what comes next for Djokovic, as he admitted his hopes of winning more Grand Slams may be slipping away.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarlos didn\u2019t play his best match but won in straight sets which tells you his level of improvement over the last couple of years \u2013 even the last nine months to when he lost to Djokovic in Australia,\u201d said Harrison.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like Carlos has taken the next step. He has heard the noise around him not being at his best early in a tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is playing well, serving unbelievably well after some adjustments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Novak\u2019s walk-off at the end of the match, we have a lot to unpack.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t look like someone who is definitely sure if they are going to see that court again.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Djokovic does not play any regular ATP Tour events between now and the end of 2025, he will only have the Six Kings Slam exhibition event to play before the Australian Open in mid-January.<\/p>\n

Djokovic has made no secret of his desire to spend time with his young family and this crushing end to his latest Grand Slam bid will inevitably inspire him to ponder what might come next.<\/p>\n

Writing off all-time sporting greats is a fools\u2019 game, but anyone predicting Djokovic will beat Alcaraz and Sinner to win a Grand Slam in 2026 is equally deluded.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak Djokovic live blog \u2013 follow the action from the US Open semi-final<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Martina Navratilova\u2019s brutally honest verdict on Novak Djokovic after Carlos Alcaraz hammering<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Was that the end of Novak Djokovic? As Carlos Alcaraz inflicted a ruthless 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2 defeat on the 24-time Grand Slam champion in a compelling and often painful US Open semi-final, the final act may have given us a big hint that the career of the most successful male player of all-time has reached […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}