‘Hard work beats talent every day!’ Novak Djokovic gives his verdict on the age old Talent vs Hard-work debate
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Novak Djokovic with his 2021 Australian Open title
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic had a difficult time in Australia last month when his stay was limited to just 10 days as he was deported and banned from entering Australia for 3 years on 16th January 2022, a few hours before his 1st round match in the 2022 Australian Open where he was the 3-time defending champion and a record 9-time tournament champion.
The debacle in Australia overshadowed the achievements of Novak in the 2021 season where he was 27-1 in the Grand Slam events reaching the finals of all 4 Slams and except for the 2021 US Open, he won the remaining three Slams to join Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on 20 majors each, with Nadal now on 21 as he won 2022 Australian Open and takes the lead.
Djokovic explains why hard work is greater than talent
Ahead of his match against Jiri Vesely in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Championships, which he eventually surprisingly went on to lose, Novak Djokovic gave an exclusive long interview to L’equipe, where he spoke about why hard work is more important than talent.
The Serbian said that though he believed in talent, he also believe that hard work can beat talent any day. The World No.1 believes that talent is just a small fraction of the end result, with workload making a huge portion of it. Thus, despite the genetic advantages in some cases, hard work and willpower always come out on top.
“People tend to forget. They say to themselves: “He has talent. What is talent? Yes, I believe in talent. Some people don’t believe in talent, I do. Let’s say it’s a genetic advantage, but talent is only a small percentage of the end result. The rest is the workload. “Hard work beats talent every day”, as we say in the United States. And that’s true,” said Djokovic.
He further went on to give examples to illustrate his point. The 34-year-old took the example of David Ferrer, who was an excellent worker. He then took the example of Radek Stepanek, who had some limitations in his game according to Djokovic. However, despite his flat forehand and unconvincing topspin, he still reached the top 10 through sheer hard work and exceptional game intelligence.
“We have plenty of examples in tennis. David Ferrer (world No. 3 in 2013), we all knew what an incredible worker he was. Watch Radek Stepanek (8 thin 2006). When you saw his game, you could see some limitations. His flat forehand, the fact that he doesn’t master the topspin… But his game intelligence, his willpower, and his clever work enabled him to reach the heights. And Gilles Simon (6th in 2009), yet another example. Top 10. Incredible.”– said the Serbian.
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Akash Mandal
(433 Articles Published)