'I want to be the best': Djokovic ahead of Australian Open
At 36, the Serbian’s motivation has only grown; he is eager to keep a hungry pack of pretenders and the last of those two great rivals, Rafael Nadal, at bay this fortnight at Melbourne Park.
His two eminent rivals often made a point of diplomatically ducking and diving when pressed on their pursuit of greatness.
Novak Djokovic, however, cuts straight to the chase.
At 36, the Serbian's motivation has only grown; he is eager to keep a hungry pack of pretenders and the last of those two great rivals, Rafael Nadal, at bay this fortnight at Melbourne Park.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Two years ago at the All England Club, the Serbian drew level with Nadal and his other high-achieving adversary, Roger Federer, for the first time on 20 major titles.
In his 18th Australian Open campaign, a 10th triumph on the final Sunday night would again reel in top seed Nadal with No.22.
"That's why I keep on playing professional tennis, competition tennis, because I want to be the best, I want to win the biggest tournaments in the world," Djokovic said.
"There is no secret about it. It doesn't get bigger than this. You have four Slams that historically have been the biggest events in our sport.
"It's also one of the biggest reasons why I was really looking forward to come back to Australia: because of my record here.
"I really love playing in Rod Laver Arena, particularly night sessions. I've had plenty of success that hopefully can continue this year."
Off the court, Djokovic spent an idyllic two weeks preparing in Adelaide, hiking the surrounding hills, swimming at Henley Beach and staying in a "really wonderful place in nature".
It was a chance, he said, to recharge the batteries in order to bring his best on court.
While reconnecting with nature was not the overriding objective of his time there it worked a treat as he left the city with his 92nd career title after beating Denis Shapovalov, Daniil Medvedev and Sebastian Korda – from championship point down – in succession.
"I'm in very good shape. I ended the year in the best possible way and continued that form in Adelaide," he said.
"I like the way I played there. I beat some really good players, especially in the last few matches of the tournament."
