“I still enjoy competing but part of me left with them,” said a wistful-looking Novak Djokovic during the Shanghai Masters last week. The “them” partially referred to Rafael Nadal who had just announced his retirement on Thursday in a social media video post.

The Serbian is last man standing for the old order. Nadal was the penultimate ‘living’ part of the Big Four that included Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray. Murray retired after the Paris Olympics almost two years on from Federer starting the breakup in September 2022 at the age of 41.

Djokovic looked desolate at the thought of Nadal’s pending exit which will be after Spain compete in November’s Davis Cup final in November. The 37-year-old played one of Federer, Nadal and Murray 21 times in his first 27 Grand Slam finals. The last ten major finals he’s competed in haven’t featured one of them.

The 24-time Slam champion lost to one of the best graduates from the Next Gen, Jannik Sinner, in straight sets in the Shanghai final. Federer was in the crowd as an observer which Djokovic joked put more “pressure” on the occasion. These flashbacks from the past are everywhere. Meanwhile, the present isn’t as good for the world No. 4. Sinner asserted his increasing ascendancy over the Serb, winning 7-6, 6-3 after coming out on top in a fierce battle in the opening set.

Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have taken up residence at the top of the men’s rankings. Djokovic is all about the majors now, but there has been an emptiness to this season in terms of delivering anything in the trophy cabinet. The superb Olympic win over Alcaraz was an outlier, a searing moment of willpower that sucked up all his strength and joy.

He congratulated Sinner on Sunday, admitting his opponent was “too fast, too strong”. At Wimbledon, the seven-time champion lost in straight sets to Alcaraz and admitted he was “inferior.” In January, the year started shockingly as he won only three games in the first two sets against the Italian in the Australian Open semi-final, pronouncing: “I was shocked at my level – in a bad way.” When does the refreshing honesty about shortcomings translate into a countdown to departure time?

Djokovic admitted that he was overwhelmed at Nadal’s announcement. Leaving the stage is often the hardest thing for an elite sportsman, but being left as the only one of the previous generation is an entirely different experience altogether. Djokovic is still supremely competitive. He has enough to beat 95 per cent of the field. It’s just that 36 is not the new 26 forever.

He truly relished the Wimbledon 2023 and Cincinnati finals against Alcaraz, both epics that brought out the best in him. They charged his battery with enough fuel for 2023. These matches replicated what he once had on annual subscription from 2010 onwards. The Medvedevs, Fritzs and Zverevs can still be quelled. The struggle to lift another big one over five sets and a fortnight is a tough ask on current form.

Nadal’s goodbye seems to be hitting Djokovic where it really hurts – emotionally. “Your tenacity, dedication, fighting spirit is going to be taught for decades. Your legacy will live forever. Only you know what you had to endure to become icon of tennis and sport in general. Thank you for pushing me to the very limit so many times in our rivalry that has impacted me the most as a player,” read his social media tribute.

He repeated that he meant every word in an interview courtside afterwards. The Djokovic and Nadal rivalry gave the world one of the most enduring finals at Melbourne in 2012 lasting just under six hours. Both exhausted men sat on chairs during the presentation ceremony. Only they would know what they went through. It creates a bond.

“I really understand that was a really special match, and probably a match that’s going to be in my mind not because I lost, no, because the way that we played,” Nadal said afterwards.

Djokovic knew this too. Nadal, in his eyes, was the player that was “so mentally strong. He was going for everything or nothing.” The fight was the most captivating physical sporting spectacle outside a boxing ring.

Djokovic has arrived at a place where he can’t go for everything. He could still win the 100th career title at the ATP finals or the Paris Masters. Those don’t matter so much on the hit list. The last piece of the jigsaw that made him is now disconnected from the scene. It is the end of an era and the new vision has a limited shelf life.

“My love for tennis will never fade away,” Djokovic declared last week. He’s still got it. He can still hang tough and defeat the young ones. He just hasn’t got “them.”