Novak Djokovic : The Man for all Seasons

My earliest tennis memories from the Doordarshan days have Pete Sampras as my idol. The silent assassin with a broad grin. He was never into any tantrums on the Court... Turn up, play, win and leave. The theatrics were all left for Beckers and Agassis. 

The female circuit had the ultimate oomph defying Steffi Graf. 

They were the epitome of Tennis, idols of millions of our generation and no one could get better at the game. Pete ended up with 14 Grand Slams, while our "Golden Slam" girl went on to win 22 Slams, last one in 1999. That was the 90s.

The new millennium raised the Bar with Roger, Rafa and Serena. Somewhere in this melee, a tall and lanky Serb, with a war torn childhood, decided to change the game forever.

Just when you think that he can't get any higher, Novak Djokovic does it again. At 36, he won the US Open Championship defeating Andre Medvedev in a riveting final last night.

This epic win is not only his, but a treasure of tennis fraternity overall. 

Novak is part of an era which has seen Federer and Rafa rule at their best.  When it comes to live action, Djoko will never feel the love that is felt for the prodigal son Nadal, or his great Swiss rival Federer. Whilst treated with great respect, aside from the occasional ill-mannered boos, Djokovic has always been viewed with admiration but nothing beyond that. He won’t ever be the fans favourite when facing Roger or Rafa, in fact the support is often entirely one sided. So as fans make their feelings known, he is unmoved, relentless in his pursuit of glory and whilst his dominance continues the Joker won’t care, this is the era of Djokovic. 

The Big Three

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have both contributed to make Djoko what he is today. After he won the 2018 US Open, he openly admitted to this when he said, “Maybe 10 years ago, I would say I’m not so happy to be part of this era with Nadal and Federer. Actually, today I am. I really am. I feel like these guys ... have made me the player I am.”

Let's recount a few of Djoko's unforgettable encounters at the Majors :-

2008 Australian Open: Defeated Roger Federer in the Semi Finals enroute to his his first Grand Slam.

2011 Australian Open: By the time he won it, the Grand Slam count of Big Three was - Federer 16, Rafa 9 and Djoko 2.

2011 US Open : Overcame a two-set deficit, then two match points, to eliminate Federer in the semifinals, then defeated Nadal across 4 hours, 10 minutes in the Final. That made Djokovic 10-1 against those two opponents that season.

2012 Australian Open : Came out on top against Rafa in a 5-hour, 53-minute marathon that was so exhausting, both men were given chairs to sit in during the trophy ceremony.

2014 Wimbledon: Denied Federer what would have been a record eighth championship at the All England Club.

2016 French Open : Complete a career Grand Slam and became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win four consecutive major titles.

2019 Wimbledon : Defeated Federer 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12... Saved two championship points at 8-7 in the fifth set, then won the first Wimbledon final to go to a fifth-set tiebreaker.

Nobody outside of Rafa and Roger can challenge Novak when he is near top form. Much has been talked about some of the young players on tour, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Kyrgios, Medvedev, Alcaraz etc, none seem to have made the step up as of yet. Novak is back to being machine-like, error and injury free force after some CoVID induced setbacks. In fact I would argue he looked better than he has ever done before in his straight sets victory in New York.

I would say there is nothing to argue about... He is the best tennis player in history. 

24 Grand Slam Titles. It seems like there is no end.

A little Google search told me that he has played in 72 Slams, reached the finals in half of those and won a third of those ... Out of this world stats.

In his 36th year, he has won three Grand Slams, and one Runners Up finish. Since the start of 2021, he has entered 10 Grand Slams, reached nine finals, and won seven. Utterly ridiculous.

The guy is unreal. 

2020, he was disqualified from US Open for an inadvertent mistake. Last year he was banned from Australia and USA. So this year, he won both of them. Perfect GOAT attitude and a Box Office monster.

Is he the best sportsman in history ?? That would be some debate, for some other day, but we can put him in the same list with Ali, Jordan, Bolt, Phelps, Pele, Messi, Serena, and I am sure I missed a few other names.

The Trophy Presentation Ceremony at the end of today's US Open Finals was another tribute to the greatness of sports. Andre Medvedev, having lost the finals moments earlier, devoted more than half of his speech to the greatness of Djokovic. Such a humble and great person, hope he wins more Slams in future. 

Sadly, Djoko will have to step aside for that to happen !!

PS :

In 2023, Djokovic may not have won the Calendar Slam, but he has still achieved something very unique. 

Out of the four Grand Slams, Wimbledon is the only Slam that grants a non -silver trophy to the Champion. Wimbledon trophy is Golden, whereas Australian Open, Roland Garros and US Open - these three all award silver trophies to the winner. 

And apparently, since Rod Laver, Djokovic is the only player to have won all the silver-trophy-awarding Grand Slam titles in the year. 

Call it the "Silver Slam".

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Credits : World Wide Web 

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