Sunil Gavaskar believes Novak Djokovic's Olympic setback will give him more time to focus on US Open, claims Bo3 tennis is like T20 cricket
Sunil Gavaskar believes Novak Djokovic's Olympic disappointment will allow him to take some time off and "regroup" ahead of the upcoming US Open. Gavaskar also pointed out that top tennis players like Djokovic are at their most vulnerable in the best-of-three format, which he considers to be tennis' equivalent to T20 cricket.
Sunil Gavaskar is a legendary Indian World Cup-winning cricketer. Gavaskar is recognized as one of the finest batsmen to have emerged from India, along with Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.
Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, has leapfrogged his rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the GOAT race by claiming each of the three Grand Slams held so far this year. The Serb, however, fell short in his pursuit of the Calendar Golden Slam as he failed to win the gold medal at the Olympic Games, returning empty-handed after consecutive losses to Alexander Zverev and Pablo Carreno Busta.
That said, Djokovic still has a chance of completing the Calendar Slam (winning all four Majors in a calendar year) at this year's US Open. Writing for Sportstar, Gavaskar explained that the Serb's Olympic setback could allow him to focus on his upcoming task at Flushing Meadows.
"Novak Djokovic’s loss at the Olympics means, unlike Steffi Graf in 1988, he won’t be able to complete the Golden Slam, which is winning all four Majors as well as the Olympic title," Gavaskar wrote.
"Mind you, he still has to win the last major of the year, the US Open, for the calendar year Grand Slam, but maybe the loss at the Olympics will give him a little more time to regroup and focus on the tournament starting in a month’s time."
Both of Novak Djokovic's losses at the Olympics came to opponents seeded in the top 10. In terms of ATP rankings, Alexander Zverev is at No. 5, and Pablo Carreno Busta is ranked 11.
Sunil Gavaskar believes Djokovic's losses were not too surprising given the caliber of his opponents and the fact that matches were played in the best-of-three format.
Gavaskar reckons best-of-three tennis is similar to T20 cricket -- the shortest format of the international game -- as both allow lower-ranked teams and players to assert themselves against the best.
"Djokovic’s defeat came against a top-10 opponent, so it wasn’t a total surprise and it also happened at a tournament that is a best-of-three-sets event, which is a whole different ball game as a lot of top players take a little time to get going and so can be beaten in the best-of-three-sets format," Gavaskar wrote.
"We saw at the French Open how Djokovic came back from two sets down to win the next three and win the title, so the shorter the format, the better the chances of lesser players to beat the top guys," he added. "It’s like the Twenty20 format in cricket where any team can beat anybody and the rankings don’t always work out."
Novak Djokovic might not play any tune-up events ahead of the US Open
Novak Djokovic has already announced his withdrawal from the upcoming National Bank Open in Toronto, following his exertions in recent months. Djokovic also sustained a shoulder injury during the Tokyo Olympics and, as such, is unlikely to compete in the Cincinnati Masters as well.
That leaves the Winston-Salem Open, an ATP 250 event, as the Serb's only chance to fine-tune his game ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year. But the North Carolina-based event will end just two days before the US Open, making it a difficult proposition for Djokovic.
Thus, the World No. 1 might be forced to take part in the US Open without playing any warm-up events.