Writers once liked to associate Novak Djokovic, the greatest male tennis player of all time, with inanimate objects. Some representative headlines from Djokovic’s prime: “Novak Djokovic Is The Perfect Champion for the Age of AI”; “Machine Flips Switch”; “The Cyborg-ian Glory of Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon”; “The French Open, Novak Djokovic, and the End of the Machine Age in Tennis.” To watch Djokovic at his best is to know it is unthinkable that he could miss a ball; that his backhand, whether struck casually or from a gymnastic position with legs parallel to the ground, will fall safely into the space on the court most uncomfortable for his opponent; that while the backhand is the more reliable shot, the forehand is deadlier, more versatile, and is Djokovic’s preferred weapon; that the first serve on a break point will not only go in but kiss the outside of the line and fly past the stock-still opponent; that he will hang in points for twenty, thirty, forty, fifty-four shots if necessary; that when he looks…