Imagine pushing your body to the edge, so far, in fact, that it starts sending distress signals loud and clear: crippling cramps, sudden vomiting, and dizzying blood-pressure checks. That’s been Novak Djokovic’s reality for the last 18 months. However, rather than retreating, he has been making his way through it all on the largest stages of the tennis game, struggling not only against others but also against his own body.

Take the 2025 Shanghai Masters. Imagine Djokovic on the court, where the heat is over 30 °C, and the air is unable to breathe. He vomited several times in the middle of his match against Yannick Hanfmann. However, like a real warrior, he scratched his way back up after being set down 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. It was an awe-inspiring sight to look at, and at the same time, it raised a question: how long can this body carry on?

Even the CEO of Kitman Labs, Stephen Smith, who is one of the foremost experts on athlete health, did not mince words.. “All of these bits and pieces are indicative of wear and tear,” he said. “But also… sometimes the time off you get while nursing an injury means that your training load drops. Then you come back and you’re expected to compete at the same level. That can cause a cascading sequence of injuries.”

According to Smith, this is precisely what it does when professional athletes (and legends, such as Novak Djokovic) push the boundaries of their bodies at 38 years old in a sport that is not getting any easier or less challenging. This is a very taxing cycle, and the consequences are very evident. And the signs keep piling up.

In a quarter-final with Jaume Munar on the 7th of October, Djokovic again vomited and collapsed in the second set and required medical attention, and missed the post-match press. Then, only three days afterward, in the semis against Valentin Vacherot, he appeared worn out, with a sore hip and fatigue, pausing during the game to have treatment. As Djokovic puts it: “There’s always something happening with the body pretty much every match that I play right now.” His sincerity tells the real burden of this struggle.

You may think that having more rest would help, but Smith tells why it is not that simple. “We try to rest our players more and give them more time off. And then it turns out that that actually backfires because the physicality of our games, the intensity of our games, regardless of sport today, have only got bigger, faster and stronger… And that takes an enormous toll on your body….We’re always trying to find that perfect balance between what’s the right amount of stimulus to keep people healthy without overloading them and breaking them, or without underloading them.”

Therefore, it now turns out to be the tightrope walk that Novak Djokovic has to walk every day: to be tough enough but to avoid overdoing it.

Cracks that have grown over time for Novak Djokovic

The indications of physical difficulties of Novak Djokovic did not happen instantly; they have been sneaking in during the last several years.  For two decades, from 2003 to 2023, he seemed almost untouchable, rarely sidelined by serious injuries. The most notable setback in that stretch was an elbow issue that began in 2016 and required surgery in 2017, which Djokovic later called the worst injury of his career.

As he said, “I had surgery on my elbow back in 2017, and I had that injury for a year and a half. I don’t normally drink anti-inflammatories, I don’t like those tablets and cortisone shots or anything like that… I cried for days…” Outside of that, he was consistent, winning matches and creating a legacy of health that left him as one of the all-time greats in this sport. But…

Over the last few years, Djokovic has started to develop cracks in what seemed to be an invincible body. A medial meniscus tear at the 2024 French Open, a tear in his hamstring at the 2025 Australian Open. As he said, “It was getting worse and worse… huge uphill battle to remain fit enough for physical rallies for several more hours.” And obvious tiredness in his semifinals at Wimbledon and the US Open were all indications of a strained body.

Even a 24-time Grand Slam champion is not exempt from the wear and tear of old age in the game, and it is the first time that symptoms of frailty are starting to show. Ultimately, the career of Novak Djokovic is not only about winning but also about not giving up, even when his body appears to be sending him a text message, saying, perhaps: slow down? And that is a sort of a champion in itself.