“Perhaps you have to look at it more generally and Novak Djokovic is not just the best tennis player at the moment, but the best athlete,” Boris Becker philosophized in the Eurosport podcast The Yellow of the Ball. What the Serb has achieved at the age of 36 is “not from this world”.
In fact, it was an exceptional performance how Djokovic relegated his much younger challengers to their places this year. “When they play against me, I want them to have the feeling that they have to play their best tennis to beat me,” explained the industry leader after the triumph at the ATP Finals.
“I think the more I win on the biggest stage, the more this kind of aura grows – and that makes me happy,” said Djokovic, making it clear at the same time that the hunt for the record and title continues.
Eurosport.de has picked out five milestones that Djokovic will attack in the future.
25 Grand Slam successes
When Roger Federer won the Australian Open in 2018 and secured his 20th Grand Slam title, it seemed like a record for the ages. At that time, Rafael Nadal had 16 successes, Djokovic had 12.
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Unbelievable but true: just six years later, the Serb will be reaching for his 25th Grand Slam crown in Melbourne in mid-January. And this despite the fact that he was not allowed to compete in two major competitions in 2022 as a result of not having a corona vaccination.
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Djokovic is aiming for his eleventh Australian Open title in 2024. The Belgrade native is the clear favorite and would reach another milestone if successful. Because: He currently shares the Grand Slam record with Margaret Court, who also won 24 major events between 1960 and 1973.
60 Masters-Finals
Djokovic’s record in the nine Masters events is as crazy as many other statistics in his career. The success at the ATP Masters in Paris-Bercy at the beginning of November was the Serb’s 40th (!) title in the competitions in the 1000 category. A lonely record, of course.
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What’s more: Djokovic is still the only player to have achieved the so-called career Golden Masters. Means: He has won every single one of the nine Masters events – now even twice. What’s left as a goal? The tennis icon is currently in 58 Masters finals, the 60 should be in the 2024 season.
100 titles
It is one of the last bastions that the Big 3 have not yet captured – the record for the most singles titles on the tour. This is currently held by US legend Jimmy Connors, who has 109 tournament victories. With his 103 successes, Roger Federer is the second and so far only member of the 100 club.
That is likely to change in the 2024 season. Because: Djokovic has 98 titles. In 2023 alone, the Serb collected seven (Adelaide, Australian Open, French Open, Cincinnati, US Open, Paris, ATP Finals).
500 weeks
“It’s a pretty good achievement to be number one for 400 weeks. It’s never been done before in history,” Djokovic said after entering his 400th week as the man at the top on November 20. The veteran is now at 404 and finished the season as the oldest number one in tennis history.
Novak Djokovic is entering his 400th week as number one in the world rankings
Fotocredit: Getty Images
The question is: are 500 weeks possible? Djokovic doesn’t say no – but: The 36-year-old has a lot of points to defend at the start of the season, especially in Melbourne, where as champion he received 2,000 points for the ATP ranking. In purely mathematical terms, he can’t reach 500 weeks until the 2025 season at the earliest.
Golden Slam
“Well, you can win four Grand Slams and Olympic gold,” Djokovic said with a smile after the 2023 season. “I always have the highest ambitions and goals. That won’t change next year, that’s for sure.”
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If the Belgrade native actually manages to win the four major competitions and the Olympic tournament in Paris, this would be the first Golden Slam in tennis history. In 1988, Steffi Graf achieved the feat.
For him, it’s about “building your form so that you’re at the peak exactly when you want to be. For me, of course, that’s the Grand Slams, the ATP Finals and hopefully next year the Olympic Games,” said Djokovic.
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2023-12-25 07:06:00
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