It’s sad that Novak Djokovic at 36 is still best of the field… now’s the time for his rivals to step it up

• Novak Djokovic won a record 24th Grand Slam tournament this month 
• At 36 years of age, the Serb remains the best player in world tennis 
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Falling into conversation this month with a former ATP Tour top-10 player, the subject came on to the current strength around the top of the men’s game.

What was the view of this (non-British) player, who had a successful career either side of this century’s turn, about the prevailing standards of today’s elite outside Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz?

The exact term used in his reply was not suitable for print, and let us just say it was far from positive. 

He added that Rafael Nadal may be looking on during his lengthy convalescence, encouraged that he can come back in his valedictory year and do serious damage, even with the 37-year-old Spaniard well…