MIAMI — After two decades of professional tennis, 99 career singles titles and 24 Grand Slam triumphs, Novak Djokovic has become a mystery — to tennis fans and to himself. Both parties are trying to answer the same question, from match to match and tournament to tournament, as his career moves towards an as-yet unknown end.

Who is the greatest player of the modern era at this moment?

Is he the player who faded two weeks ago against Botic van de Zandschulp, in his opening match at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif.? Or is he the player who has plowed through his first three opponents in at the Miami Open the past five days, including Lorenzo Musetti, the world No. 16 from Italy?

Is he the player whose return of serve, one of the greatest in the sport’s history, has been a shadow of its usual self? Or is he the player who broke Musetti five times Tuesday night on his way to a 6-2, 6-2 win?

Is he the player ramping up his schedule as he approaches his 38th birthday, because it’s his last spin around the tennis globe? Or is he the player he described to the Miami crowd when he told them, “You’re going to be seeing me a few more years.”

When it comes to the subject of Novak Djokovic, Djokovic is like everyone else: always searching for the signal in the noise, searching for the data about himself and his tennis that will allow him to separate what matters from what does not. At this moment, there is both too much and not enough data to figure out who and what the Djokovic of 2025 is. All these years later, but just 14 matches into this season, he has become the sport’s international man of mystery — definitively not what he once was, and searching for the answer of what he will be.

“I do hope and wish for Novak that you saw tonight, and then at the same time, I worked hard not to have the Novak that was playing in Indian Wells,” Djokovic said in the mixed zone with reporters when his match with Musetti was over. “The continuity or consistency of the level of tennis nowadays for me is more challenging than it was years ago or 10 years ago, five years ago, and I know that.

“That’s definitely not due to lack of hours spent on the practice court and in the gym because I still keep the dedication. It’s there, but it’s just makes it a bit more challenging for me to maintain the level.”

Djokovic is living through a common misconception about what happens to elite athletes declining from their peaks. The apexes stay sharp and accessible in fleeting moments, even when they need them most: Djokovic found his on his otherworldly run to the gold medal at last year’s Paris Olympic Games. It’s the stability that erodes, the repetitions that are necessary to maintain their excellence.

Djokovic’s biggest triumph this year came at the Australian Open, where he beat Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals after a series of wins that had included serious dips in his level, during which young and inexperienced opponents found ways to hurt him but could not finish him off.

Stunning as it was, the victory was also one of the strangest tennis matches in memory. Djokovic suffered a muscle tear in the first set, but somehow managed to win in four, thanks to a heady cocktail of painkillers, adrenalin and an inexplicable Alcaraz breakdown. The Spaniard succumbed to the stress of playing Djokovic, of thinking about his opponent’s tennis and his physical condition more than he was thinking of his own.

Three days later, Djokovic had to retire from his semifinal against Alexander Zverev at the end of the first set because of his muscle injury. When he arrived in Florida, he had not won a match since beating Alcaraz on that January night in Melbourne.

In Miami, he has wins against Rinky Hijikata, a 24-year-old Australian who has played 13 Grand Slam matches, just over half the number of Grand Slam titles that Djokovic has won. He then beat Camilo Ugo Carabelli, a 25-year-old Argentine who has never won a Grand Slam match.

Both matches opened with a blowout set and ended with Djokovic winning a tiebreak. It’s one of the most familiar patterns in Djokovic matches over the years, just inverted: the tight set to loosen everything up before the acceleration to victory swapped for a fast start and then an ebbing end.

Then came Musetti. On paper, he looked like a legitimate threat. On the court, Djokovic picked up his head and saw Serena Williams sitting in the stands. He looked at his box and saw Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro, the retired Grand Slam champions. One his coach; the other his good friend. All those big names made him a little starstruck and nervous about playing well, especially in front of Williams, the greatest female player of all time.

Musetti’s elegant all-court game suits grass, clay and slow hard courts, but he remains reasonably lost on fast ones. Against the best hard-court player in the history of the sport, he broke serve in the first game and surged to the illusion of a 2-0 lead built on making the match physical. Djokovic decided he wasn’t going to play a match like that and won the next nine games to seize control. Musetti showed about as much resistance as a swinging door.

On Wednesday night, Djokovic will face Sebastian Korda, the young and talented American of a thousand renaissances, seemingly always on the cusp of announcing himself. Korda, 24, is still trying to find his way after a couple of years of wrist injuries; he received treatment on his wrist during his round-of-16 win over Gael Monfils on Tuesday.

Djokovic won their only previous meeting, in Adelaide, Australia, two years ago. He might get some more data about their matchup and about himself Wednesday, but it’s not clear how fit Korda will be to give him what he needs. Djokovic at least has no doubts about his wants: to keep playing at the highest level in an era when even the youngest players approach the game with a level of professionalism unheard of when he was starting out.

“Fitness and recovery and just overall approach to the work, from both physical and mental side has improved so much,” he said in Miami.

“Nowadays, pretty much every player in the top 30 in the world has a full team of three and four people around them that takes care of them, their body and everything, so that that reflects on the court. That’s why the careers are extended now.”

When he embarked on his professional career, players started counting their days when they hit 30, he said. Now it’s more like 35, maybe more.

“Of course I’m in that group. I’m not going to get younger, but I still feel good about my body and about my tennis.”

That may be the data point that matters more than all the others.

(Top photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)

Jay Williams has reached what he calls an “inflection point.”

“If I can’t be the best version of myself, then I can’t be that for the people that I love,” Williams said. “I think that’s what I’m processing now.”

Williams wears many hats these days: ESPN college basketball analyst, a regular contributor to the network’s shows like “Get Up” and “College GameDay,” co-founder of a media company, dad to a son and two daughters and a husband to his wife, Nikki. Taking on all these different roles has led to a recent self-discovery journey for Williams.

“From a self developmental point of view,” he said, “I’m leaning into a lot right now.”

Williams played for coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke for three years, where he won a national championship and was named the consensus National Player of the Year in 2002. The Chicago Bulls selected him with the second pick in the draft that year, with the hope that Williams would become a franchise-changing guard. But in 2003, a motorcycle crash left him with severe injuries. He was 21 years old. After the crash caused his pro career to end early, Williams did what he knew best: Put his head down and barreled through, settling on a new path in broadcasting and attacking it with the same intensity and competitiveness he had as a player.

But recently Williams has started to take a step back and reflect on each area of his life, putting much thought into what the most successful way to juggle it all could look like.

“I got out of my accident because work became basketball,” he said. “That’s how I attacked it. That’s not to say I’ve lost any of my passion or ambition for my work because I haven’t. That’s a huge part of who I am, but learning how to channel that same intentionality or try to learn how to better channel that intentionality to my kids, to my family, and to myself, that’s the inflection point.”

Just as Williams’ understandings about himself have evolved with time, the lessons he’s taken away from his experiences have, too. Here are five tools he’s been leaning on:

Learn to love the process

Somewhere on the sidelines of a college game 20 years ago, you might’ve found Williams doing tongue exercises to improve his speech and diction.

“I can show you what they were,” he said, placing his index finger and middle finger in his mouth. “You do an aaaaghhhh.”

Following the motorcycle accident, Williams worked as an analyst for CBS Sports Network before joining ESPN. When he was starting out, he spoke with a lisp and tended to rush through his sentences, so ESPN paired him with a voice coach to work on enunciation.

But as he was carrying his own camera equipment into games and working on his speech, Williams questioned this kind of work compared to the playing career he had envisioned.

“That was hard for me,” he said. “It was hard for me not to be jealous. Not to be envious. And I missed it.”

As a player, Williams had leaned on a lesson he learned from Krzyzewski: Learn how to fall in love with the process. Over time, Williams started to apply that mentality to the work he put into his media career. He thought to himself: How do I fall in love with this process? How can I fall in love with this work?

“I think that’s when all those things started to translate for me,” Williams said.

Intentionality is powerful

On the way to drop his daughter off at kindergarten in the morning, Williams recites affirmations with her, hoping to teach her about positive self-talk. She is at a new school with new friends and Williams wants to keep a good mindset towards it all, so together, they repeat:

I’m strong. I’m courageous. I’m gentle. I’m kind.

Williams said some of this comes from his mother.

“She always told me that I have to believe,” he said. “It was always her thing. She would always recite lines to me about, ‘If you don’t believe in yourself, who’s going to believe in you?’”

On Williams’ wrist is one of his first tattoos: Believe.

Set time for yourself

When Williams reminds himself of his affirmations, it’s his signal to take a few moments to engage in practices he knows can help his headspace.

The first is breath work.

“It doesn’t matter where I am, it doesn’t matter what the situation is,” he said. “What you’re doing is you’re releasing a lot of that stress and a lot of that anxiety through your breathing.”

He has a specific routine where he tries to inhale as much as possible before exhaling as much as possible. He repeats that process 30 times. On his last exhale, he releases all of his breath and then proceeds to hold his breath for as long as he can.

He also has a visualization tool he uses during the routine.

“What I do is I let those thoughts come and I let them go with each breath,” he said. “And as I breathe, I think of a string that I have attached to the top of my head and it elongates my body. When I breathe, I take it through my diaphragm and think about straightening myself out and I just close my eyes. And I think just through breath work for me, in that moment, all that other stuff disintegrates.”

Williams constantly reminds himself to “stop and slow down,” so at home he has a box where he and Nikki place their phones each night for an hour and a half, just to get away.

“We sit and we eat with our kids,” he said. “And I think (Nikki) has been very good at forcing me and challenging me to do things.”

When in doubt, Charles Barkley it

While speaking about how he views his life and the way he parents his kids, Williams brought up the triangle offense. If he were to explain in full detail the mechanics of the triangle offense to his audience on TV, the viewers would probably get lost. Instead, he might just point out a screen that contributed to a player scoring. Williams calls this “Charles Barkleying,” after the famed NBA analyst known for his sense of humor and accessibility.

“The metamorphosis process of going through my life, I try to Charles Barkley it,” he said. “I try to simplify it.”

He started to do that at Duke. One of his weaknesses was that he would get too emotionally attached to one play. Describing himself as “type A” and a “little bit of a control freak,” Williams would get derailed if a play didn’t go exactly as he visualized it in his mind, and the play would rattle around in his head.

“If I carry that negative connotation to the next play,” he said, “I’m not in the right mindset to accomplish the next play.”

He learned the best thing for him was to watch a lot of film and confront his mistakes after the game. The film simplified things for him. It allowed him to clearly see what was going on and how to fix it, giving him confidence the next time it happened.

He tries to apply the same principles to his life, breaking everything down in a journal.

“When the day was over, I would take a pen and paper and I would think it through,” he said. “‘What happened today? Where did I go wrong? How did I see it coming into it? Was I truly prepared for that? Was I more reactive? How can I do that one differently?’ I kind of addressed the day in its totality at the end of the day.”

Keep an eye on the water levels of your buckets

Williams called the word balance a trigger for him.

“I think it is a ghost-like term that people casually toss out there like a fish line,” he said.

To him, true balance is unattainable.

Williams views the different parts of his life as buckets that he has to remember to fill. And by viewing them as buckets, it helps reinforce the idea that having them all look the same is too much to worry about.

“When you’re running from fire to fire to fire with buckets of water, you inevitably don’t put out any of the fires,” he said. “Because by the time I pour a bucket of water on this fire, and I’m running back to the well to dip it in more water, there’s five more fires that just came out. And by the end of the day, I’m like, ‘Are any of the fires even out?’”

Instead of worrying about all the buckets in his life all the time – being a husband, being a father, being a broadcaster, being a businessman — he tries to just make sure one bucket doesn’t get too empty at the expense of another.

“There are some buckets that are less filled than others on certain respective days, but I think I have to know for myself that it’s going to be OK,” Williams said. “I can come back to a respective bucket and fill it up a little more to try to even it out. As long as I know that I’m doing my best and I’m also making it a priority that I have the energy to keep filling up those buckets, on a day to day basis, that’s what the brevity of the situation is for me. And that’s taken me a really long time to come to the realization that if I can’t do that, nothing is going to be OK.”

All of these ideas have helped Williams create a better awareness and are part of his ever-evolving process to try to show up as the best version of himself.

(Photo: Lance King / Getty Images)

The 2025 WNBA Draft will be headlined by UConn’s Paige Bueckers, who has been penciled in as the top pick ever since she decided to exercise her fifth year of eligibility. But beyond Bueckers, there is a deep pool of lead guards, scorers, and wings who are eager to make their impact at the next level.

Bueckers and several of her fellow draftees, including the Notre Dame and NC State duos, are still competing in the NCAA Tournament. UConn is seeking its first national championship since 2016 and first title for Bueckers. With so much left to accomplish, the draft seems far away, but the April 14 date in New York city is fast approaching, just eight days after the national championship.

Six WNBA general managers shared their candid opinions about the upcoming draft class with The Athletic before the NCAA Tournament began. They were granted anonymity to allow them to speak openly. On Wednesday, we’ll run another installment that includes their evaluations of frontcourt players such as Aneesah Morrow, Kiki Iriafen and Dominique Malonga.

(Players are listed in alphabetical order. Statistics current through Monday. Asterisks indicate a player has an additional year of college eligibility.)

Georgia Amoore | 5-6 guard | Kentucky

19.6 ppg, 6.9 apg, 36.7 mpg

“Great college basketball player. Can she do enough to be a rotational WNBA player who makes it to a second contract?”

“Georgia Amoore’s game will translate due to her ability to run a team and put her teammates in easy scoring situations due to her passing. She will excel in pick-and-roll situations and is a player with a very high basketball IQ.”

“It’s hard to succeed as a tiny, tiny guard, so size is just the main thing. If she can be an insane shooter off the dribble and with range, she has a chance.”

“She’s heady, does a ton of the (Steve) Nash stuff. She’s pretty smart in terms of knowing her limitations from a size perspective.”

“There’s no doubt she’s a scorer, she can shoot, she’s a playmaker. Point guards are at a premium. They’re hard to find.”

Georgia Amoore’s college career was outstanding 👏

🏀 First triple-double in VT history
🏀 Led Hokies to first ACC title and Final Four appearance
🏀 All-time assists leader for VT (656)
🏀 Tied Kentucky record for most points in a game (43)
🏀 2x First-team All-ACC & 1x… pic.twitter.com/mLxsboWkSH

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— espnW (@espnW) March 23, 2025

Paige Bueckers* | 5-11 guard | UConn

18.7 ppg, 4.8 apg, 63.4 TS%

“My only concerns with Paige are physical. If she can stay healthy, I think she’s an All-Star level talent. She can play with or without the ball which makes her super valuable. She scores at all three levels. She’s big and tall and long enough to survive defensively. I think her offense is better than her defense, but it’s hard to find things not to like about Paige.”

“Despite the fact that people always want to seem to talk about some potential flaws, (she’s)
still the most sure thing today in this draft.”

“The adjustment to the speed and physicality of the game will determine her immediate impact.”

“Great leader. She’s incredibly poised. She’s prepared, pro-ready and so impressive, on and off the court. A franchise foundational player.”

Sonia Citron | 6-1 wing | Notre Dame

14.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 38.1 3-PT%

“Total package player. … She’s got three layers to her scoring, she can defend multiple positions, her IQ is off the charts.”

“Hard to not like her in terms of what the game needs, the 3-and-D. “

“Very, very poised. Obviously shoots the ball tremendously well. She’s got the whole package. The game seems to have slowed down for her.”

“Big fan, don’t know the ceiling, don’t know the star power, but in terms of being a productive player on a winning team and raising the floor of your team, pretty big fan.”

Azzi Fudd* | 5-11 guard | UConn

13.2 ppg, 1.2 spg, 44.8 3-PT%

“She shoots it well but the sample size is so small. Not sure how she impacts the game outside of the threat of her shooting, and I don’t think her shooting numbers are off the charts either, so I’m a little worried about her having a bigger reputation than the actual impact.”

“Health is the No. 1 thing for Azzi. She has all the tools to be a great pro. It really comes down to her health. Great shooting, great defender.”

“She could be a really interesting complementary rotation player who can stretch it. Three-and-D potential player.”

Aziaha James | 5-9 guard | NC State

17.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.7 apg

“Really dynamic. Great finisher. Just gets downhill. Great defender. I think she’s going to be a really, really good guard in this league for a long time.”

“I could see her turning out to have an eight-year career. I could see her fizzling out and it just not working. I see her as a microwave scorer off the bench and those are necessary.”

“Her ability to adapt to defensive game plans against her when she gets to this next level will decide if she makes it or not.”

“A good combo guard, but might need to become more physical and stronger to be able to compete night in and night out in the WNBA.”

Olivia Miles* | 5-10 guard | Notre Dame

15.5 ppg, 5.9 apg, 40.1 3-PT%

“The second safest pick after Paige.”

“She’s definitely an exceptional passer. Her court vision in small spaces as well as full court is really, really special.”

“Big fan, especially if the shooting can continue to be where it’s at. I love the wiggle she has in her game. She’s got great feel, she’s got great change of pace. I love the combination of dribble, pass, shoot. I love her size at point guard. I think she can also probably play on and off the ball.”

“Incredibly dynamic. One of the best scorers I’ve seen in many years. At times, she’s taken out of the end of games defensively, but I think the defensive end is where she still has room to grow. Offensively, an absolute dynamo.”

Te-Hina Paopao | 5-9 guard | South Carolina

9.7 ppg, 2.9 apg, 37.1 3-PT %

“Solid college player. Clear 3-point shooter. Does she have enough to get by people and create at the next level?”

“Paopao has the ability to hit from long range. She has strong leadership qualities and is another high IQ player who can distribute the basketball.”

“Paopao is efficient offensively. Defends really well. You know Dawn (Staley)’s kids are going to come in and play their role, whatever they’re asked to do, no matter how big or how little. She really impacts the game on both ends of the floor.”

Saniya Rivers | 6-1 guard/wing | NC State

11.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.6 apg

“The good news for her is she can be a point guard. And if you can’t shoot, you better be playing point guard cause then you have the ball in your hands and you can survive a little bit more. A lot to like and a lot to question, but amazing tools to work with.”

“The most athletic guard-wing in the draft, but is there a place for a non-3-point shooter guard-wing in the WNBA?”

“The athleticism is mesmerizing. At times she gets a little bit out of control, so it’s just harnessing that and continuing to get better at just picking her shots, picking when she’s gonna drive, when she’s gonna shoot the 3.”

“Great length from the wing position and the possibility of being an elite defender with her length and athleticism.”

🚨: NC State advances to the SWEET SIXTEEN for the sixth time in seven seasons‼️

No. 2 NC State defeated No. 7 Michigan State, 83-49.

Saniya Rivers became the first player in NC State program history to post a point-assist double-double in an NCAA tournament game, while Aziaha… pic.twitter.com/EYB86AsF8I

— Posther Hoops (@postherhoops) March 24, 2025

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Shyanne Sellers | 6-2 wing | Maryland

14.2 ppg, 4.2 apg, 41.8 3-pt%

“I love her size, I love her athleticism. She’s got all the tools, she just sort of at times, comes in and out. Any kid that’s playing for Brenda Freese for four years you know is disciplined on both ends of the floor.”

“She’s a scorer, she can play probably the two and the three and (stretch) four. Availability is often the best ability, and she’s had a little bit of a rocky year with some of the injuries that she’s had. But she’s also shown a really great resiliency in being able to bounce back.”

“Is she reliable or dependable with her scoring ability at the next level? Questions about her current health may have her drop in the draft, and ultimately, what is her best position at the W level?”

Hailey Van Lith | 5-7 guard | TCU

17.7 ppg, 5.5 apg, 1.2 spg

“A tough kid with a high basketball IQ. She can score from all three levels and is a player who, in clutch moments, you can get her the basketball and she can make something happen.”

“Hailey had success being a high-usage player. What will her role look like when she gets small windows in the W? How effective can she be in limited minutes early in her career, when she doesn’t have the ball?”

“So much grit. I love the fire that she brings when she steps onto the court. You know what you’re gonna get from her every single night. The question mark continues to be on the defensive end. She’s going to have to continue to get better. She’s never going to be the best athlete or the quickest, so she’s got to figure out how to pick her spots and be strategic in a way when she’s guarding players that might be a little bit bigger and faster than her.”

“She’s helped herself this year. She’s showing she can impact the game in different areas.”

(Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; Photos of Hailey Van Lith, Paige Bueckers and Olivia Miles: Ron Jenkins, Michael Reaves, Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)