In Shanghai on a humid October evening, Novak Djokovic did what he so often does: he won again. It was a hard-fought victory over Yannick Hanfmann, one in which he was just points away from losing, yet never truly seemed in danger.
The win took Djokovic into the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters, another milestone in a career overflowing with them. In the second round, he became the first player in history to record at least 40 match wins at six different Masters 1000 events. Only Rafael Nadal, with five such tournaments, comes close.
That second-round win came against Marin Cilic, a former rival who once pushed the Big Three to stay honest. Now, like many from that era, Cilic finds himself near the end. Djokovic, meanwhile, keeps moving forward.
The Farewells Keep Coming
Roger Federer staged his farewell like a global gala, filled with tears, tributes, and violins in London. Rafael Nadal went one better at Roland Garros, becoming immortalised on Court Philippe-Chatrier, his name and legacy etched into the clay he once ruled. Andy Murray, too, received his moment at Wimbledon, a fitting tribute to a warrior defined by grit.
Now, Gaël Monfils, one of tennis’s great entertainers, has said his time is nearly done. Stan Wawrinka too is at the stage of his career where he still flickers from time to time but rarely burns, spending most of his time on the Challenger Tour rather than the ATP Tour.
Djokovic has seen it all. Watching, competing, enduring. As his peers drift into retirement one by one, he remains the last figure standing from a once-mighty generation. It feels as if the class photo of 2007 keeps fading, and only one student still shows up for roll call. He is still that student who raises his hand at every question, confident because he knows the answer. And truthfully, he has earned that right.
He might never be cheered as loudly as Federer and Nadal. He arrived on the scene as the third man, and perhaps he will leave the same way, behind the new heirs of the game — Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. But through all the noise, all the admiration, resistance, and endless debates about legacy, Djokovic has remained tennis’s great constant.
When the history books close on this golden age of tennis, one image will remain: Novak Djokovic, still there, racket in hand, while the others have long since said goodbye. After everything, every rivalry, every record, every roar, tennis gave him the ultimate gift: he gets to call himself the last man standing. And maybe, the greatest of them all.
Main photo credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
