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THE ALL ENGLAND CLUB, LONDON — Novak Djokovic said he was “quite a bit” physically compromised during his defeat to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon on Friday, but insisted this wasn’t bad fortune but “just age” and that despite recent injuries, he plans to return to Centre Court “for sure.”

Djokovic looked a step slow in Friday’s 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Sinner after a painful fall in his quarterfinal win over Flavio Cobolli two days earlier. This felt like Djokovic’s best chance of winning a 25th Grand Slam title, given that he is a seven-time champion and most players find grass so unnatural, but that record remains tantalisingly out of reach.  

Djokovic, who turned 38 in May, was not keen to take anything away from Sinner, but said that not being fully fit “honestly, wasn’t really a pleasant feeling on the court.”

In January, Djokovic had to retire mid-match with a hamstring injury from the Australian Open semifinals against Alexander Zverev.

When it was put to him that suffering injuries at key moments this year had been unlucky, Djokovic, who has been knocked out in the semis of all three majors this year, said: “It’s just age, the wear and tear of the body. As much as I’m taking care of it, the reality hits me right now, last year and a half, like never before, to be honest. It’s tough for me to accept that because I feel like when I’m fresh, when I’m fit, I can still play really good tennis. I’ve proven that this year.

“But yeah, I guess playing best of five, particularly this year, has been a real struggle for me physically. The longer the tournament goes, yeah, the worse the condition gets. I reach the final stages, I reach the semis of every slam this year, but I have to play Sinner or (Carlos) Alcaraz.

“These guys are fit, young, sharp. I feel like I’m going into the match with the tank half empty. It’s just not possible to win a match like that.”

Despite the seemingly impossible task of overhauling Sinner and Alcaraz, who have shared the last six slams between them, Djokovic said he would be back at Wimbledon next year.

“Hopefully, it’s not my last match on the Centre Court,” he said. “I’m not planning to finish my Wimbledon career today. So I’m planning to come back definitely at least one more time, play on the Centre Court for sure.”

Djokovic said that he continues to play his best tennis at the slams, which he’s been clear is all that matters to him. However, it’s also been clear over the last two years that he’s not at the same level over five sets as Sinner and Alcaraz. Djokovic can do it in a best-of-three game format, as he did against Alcaraz in last year’s Olympic final, and he might be able to beat one of them, as he did at the Australian Open in January against the Spaniard. Still, he looks a long way from beating both over five sets at the same tournament. 

Maybe Alcaraz will suffer an early exit at the U.S. Open like he did last year, which would massively change the nature of Djokovic’s next Grand Slam assignment.

However, for an ageing elite athlete, relying on others is a reminder that for much of the first time since he started regularly winning majors in 2011, Djokovic is no longer the master of his destiny.

(Photo: Susan Mullane / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)