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Covering Novak Djokovic’s rise to the top of men’s tennis | 60 Minutes
This week, 60 Minutes correspondent Jon Wertheim profiled Novak Djokovic, the tennis legend who recently won a gold medal in the men’s singles event at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.
Djokovic won three of the four majors tennis tournaments last year, bringing his total Grand Slam wins to 24 and surpassing the records of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who have won 22 and 20, respectively. Incredibly, Djokovic accomplished this record-breaking feat at 36 years old, an age that he never imagined reaching in the sport. Now 37, Djokovic will try to win his 25th major title at the U.S. Open, which begins Monday in New York.
Wertheim told 60 Minutes Overtime that Djokovic’s dominance in men’s tennis is far from over.
“The guy won three of the four majors, and he came within a couple points of winning all four of them,” he explained. “Could he play four more years, five more years? Absolutely.”
Wertheim revisited his coverage of Djokovic’s rise to the top of men’s tennis as a writer for Sports Illustrated, discussed the importance of mental strength in Djokovic’s game and looked back at Djokovic’s first appearance on 60 Minutes in 2012.
Djokovic and Wertheim first crossed paths in 2006 at the French Open, when Djokovic was just 19. In a 2007 article for Sports Illustrated called “Not Yet, Novak,” Wertheim expressed some skepticism that Djokovic would disrupt the Federer-Nadal rivalry that had existed in men’s tennis for so long.
“There’s a sense—even in the locker room—that this is a future champion,” he wrote. “But let’s hold off before saying he’s cracked the Federer-Nadal axis.”
“Nobody said, ‘Oh, this guy’s going to win 24 majors and counting, and reset all the records and surpass Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal who preceded him,'” Wertheim explained.
That all changed in 2008, when Djokovic won his first Grand Slam tournament, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final match to win the Australian Open.
“We all sort of said, ‘Ah, maybe this is going to be a three-way race now,'” Wertheim said.
But cracking that Federer-Nadal axis would take a few more years. Djokovic told Wertheim in his interview that he often felt intimidated when playing against them.
And then in 2011, Djokovic achieved what Wertheim called one of the “all-time great seasons in tennis history.” He won three of the four majors tournaments that year, defeating Federer and Nadal in several high-pressure matches.
“I think a lot of it was mental and confidence,” Wertheim said. “And what he told me was that he was no longer intimidated by those guys.”
At the end of that spectacular season, 60 Minutes producer Draggan Mihailovich and 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon traveled to Belgrade, Serbia to interview Djokovic, who was then 24.
Simon asked Djokovic how he felt knowing that this might be the high point of his career. Djokovic confidently replied that he would be in tennis for many years to come.
“I don’t have my limit when I want to say, ‘Okay, I’m going to play up to that age and then I’ll stop,'” he told Simon.
Simon asked Djokovic how long the average career of a professional tennis player is. Djokovic guessed that it was “usually around 30 or 32.”
“Novak Djokovic did not imagine that at age 36, he would not only still be playing but would be playing at a level commensurate with 2011, and still winning three majors of the four majors, and still finishing the year ranked number one,” Wertheim said.
Wertheim asked Djokovic, then 36, who would win in a match against the 24-year-old Djokovic.
“I think the 36 would win,” Djokovic said. “I was slightly faster 10 years ago. But I think I’m probably able to play smarter today. And I’m also able to cope with the pressure moments better than I did ten years ago.”
Wertheim said Djokovic’s mental strength is a critical factor to his dominance in the sport, and it’s something he has developed with age.
“It’s very hard to pull statistics on this, but the guy on the other side of the net sure knows it,” he said. “He’s the best mental player I think in the history of men’s tennis.”
Wertheim said “constitution, confidence and self-belief” have given Djokovic an edge in the high-pressure moments of intense matches.
Djokovic said his mental game is not a gift: it’s something that has to be worked on over time. Techniques like conscious breathing help him manage stress on the court. He also took up journaling a few years ago.
“I try to write on paper with a pen as much as I can,” Djokovic said. “You’re emotionally cleansing…spending some quality time with yourself, with your thoughts. I think it serves you well.”
Wertheim asked Djokovic when he thought it would be time to retire.
“Once the young guys start kicking my butt, then I’ll probably, you know, start to rethink and question whether I should keep going,” he said. “But for now, it’s all good.”
The video above was originally published on December 10, 2023. It was produced and edited by Will Croxton.
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Paul Whelan, freed in prisoner swap with Russia, tells other American detainees: “We’re coming for you”
Washington — Nearly seven weeks after the Russians handed over Paul Whelan on a tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, the Marine veteran stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with a message for other Americans who are held abroad.
“We’re coming for you,” he told reporters Tuesday night after he met with lawmakers. “It might take time, but we’re coming.”
Whelan said he spoke with lawmakers about how the government can better support detainees after they’re released.
“We spoke about how the next person’s experience could be better,” he said. “What the government could do for the next person that’s held hostage and comes home — the care and support that other people might need, especially people that are in a worse situation. There are people coming back that lived in the dirt without shoes for three years, people that were locked up in hideous conditions for 20 years. They need support.”
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The U.S. secured Whelan’s release in August in one of the largest prisoner swaps since the end of the Cold War. The complex deal came after months of sensitive negotiations between the U.S., Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway.
As part of the deal, Russia released 16 prisoners while the Western countries released eight Russians. Whelan was released alongside Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder and Kremlin critic.
Whelan, who had been the longest-held American detainee in Russia, was arrested in December 2018 when he traveled to the country to attend a friend’s wedding. He was convicted of espionage in a secret trial and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Whelan, his family and the U.S. government vehemently denied that he was a spy and accused Russia of using him as a political pawn. The U.S. government considered him to be wrongfully detained, a rare designation that put more government resources toward securing his release.
But a deal to secure his freedom was long elusive. He remained behind bars as Russia freed Marine veteran Trevor Reed and women’s basketball star Brittney Griner — both of whom were detained after Whelan’s arrest — in prisoner swaps with the U.S.
The U.S. said it pushed for his inclusion in both exchanges, but Russia refused. It led to Whelan advocating for his own release from a remote prison camp, calling government officials and journalists to make sure that he wasn’t forgotten.
When the plane carrying Whelan, Gershkovish and Kurmasheva landed in Maryland on Aug. 1, Whelan was the first to disembark. He was greeted by President Biden, who gave Whelan his American flag pin, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Whether he likes it or not, he changed the world,” Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.
Whelan’s case and his family’s constant pressure on the U.S. government brought more attention to the cases of Americans who are wrongfully detained by foreign governments.
Haley said Whelan is a reminder to other Americans considering traveling to Russia that “you have a target on your back.”
Whelan said it’s been an adjustment acclimating to life back in the U.S., especially learning the latest technology like his iPhone 15.
“I was in a really remote part of Russia,” he said. “We really didn’t have much. The conditions were poor. The Russians said the poor conditions were part of the punishment. And coming back to see this sort of thing now is a bit of a shock, but it’s a good shock.”
