LONDON: World number one Novak Djokovic won his sixth Wimbledon title on Sunday, defeating Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 and taking his overall tennis Grand Slam tally to 20 alongside great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic’s assault on the record books has been relentless in 2021, with the Serbian great now having aced three Grand Slams this year – Australian Open, French Open and now Wimbledon – and standing as the clear favourite to take the last Slam title up for grabs this year – the US Open.
Should the 34-year-old do so, not only will he become the only player in over 50 years to claim the Calendar Year Grand Slam in more than 50 years, after Rod Laver in 1969, but will stand alone as the man with the most Grand Slam titles at 21, but also cement his claim to the title of greatest men’s tennis player of all time.
Djokovic has made no secret of his motivation to create history in his dominance of the sport over the past decade. “I’m not chasing anybody,” explained Djokovic earlier this week. “I’m making my own path and my own journey, my own history.”
It bears noting that Djokovic is already the first player to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles (twice!) and currently shares the same number of Masters 1000 silverware (36) with Nadal. He has positive ATP Head2Head records against both Federer and Nadal, and also broke Federer’s record for most weeks at No. 1 in March this year (Djokovic has been No. 1 for 329 weeks over five different stints as of 12 July). And in 2021 he is also set to eclipse Pete Sampras’ tally of six year-end No. 1 finishes (1993-1998).
It is therefore quite reasonable to argue that whether he holds aloft the 2021 US Open title on September 12 or not, the GOAT debate has already been settled. As for the other two that make up tennis’ Big Three, while Nadal is “still in the game”, for 39-year-old Federer, Grand Slam glory is clearly a thing of the past.
