Mats Wilander thinks Novak Djokovic still has it in him to win two more Grand Slam titles before retirement.

Novak Djokovic suffered a shock US Open exit but in spite of that, Mats Wilander backed him to finish his career with 26 Grand Slam titles. Djokovic was chasing his historic 25th major title at Flushing Meadows but lost in four sets in the third round to Alexei Popyrin.

Djokovic was reluctant to come to New York following the Paris Olympics, where he clinched the gold medal for the first time by beating Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz. In his press conference, Djokovic admitted that he performed poorly because he spent a lot of his energy on winning the elusive gold medal.

He did not even play a single North American hard-court tournament before the US Open. Now that he failed to win a single major title this year, he wants to get a much-needed rest before playing his next tournament.

Djokovic is 37 and many think his form has started to decline as he is not been able to perform consistently. Even if that’s the case, Wilander thinks that Djokovic still has it in him to win a couple of more Grand Slam trophies.

So far I don’t see him getting old, I don’t think this is the year where we thought ‘Ah, he’s 37.’ Physically I don’t notice anything getting older, mentally – he seems to be getting smarter. I can’t believe he’s still playing at this rate, but I can believe he’ll keep it up. I think he will win some more Slams, that he will finish at 26. 

Mats Wilander told Sport Klub