When Novak Djokovic won the French open at Roland Garros in May 2016, the achievement though stupendous did not reflect his true achievements .For the first time in 47 years a n player holds all four titles simultaneously and is poised to go for the biggest prize in tennis history – A golden calendar slam, (4 Majors including the Olympics) something which even the great Rod Laver has not achieved.
- Has won 6 Grand slams in the last one year and still the Olympics and 2 more Slams to go in the calendar year
- Has been so consistent and tenacious that, only Djokovic could lose, nobody could beat him.
- He is only 29 and still has many years of tennis left in him.
- At this rate of conversion, how many more Grand slams could he win?
- He is only behind Pet Sampras, Nadal and Federer in the total Grand Slam list.
When great players emerge, they are generally slotted into a niche- A grass court player, a clay court specialist or in-between –
When Federer started winning Wimbledon relentlessly, I an ardent fan despaired that he would ever complete a career slam. Fortunately when Nadal lost in one of his rare moments of weakness in 2014, Federer got the chance to win against a different opponent and completed his career slam. Still he is probably the greatest grass court player till now.
When Nadal burst onto the scene in the 2003 French Open, nobody would have imagined that he would have stamped his authority so indubitably that, when you scan the records of the French Open, you see the longest list of Nadal’s name and you would doubt that, it could ever be emulated.
During the period 2003 to 2008, I was wondering who would win first-
Nadal his first Wimbledon or
Federer his first French Open
And it was put to rest in one of the most classic matches of tennis, during the 2008 Wimbledon finals. Still Nadal is probably classified as the greatest clay court player ever as he has won only 2 Wimbledon titles so far.
Djokovic has already made the Australian Open his personal fiefdom with 5 titles and there does not seem anybody to challenge him. He has slowly increased his winning of other Grand Slams and if he stamps his authority on another 2 or 3 French Open titles, he would be the most complete player ever. There is no doubt, his early difficult life has infused a fierce desire to excel and when given the chance, he is proving a great player on all surfaces. (Not to forget his 3 other appearances in the French Open finals)His senses of discipline and fitness levels are awesome even for a champion. He is completely so focused and driven, it is scary. But I guess that’s what is required of a great champion and who knows one day, he may be called the greatest. This is not to forget that he is the only player to win 4 titles of the World Tour finals consequently, with a total tally of 5 titles which he shares with 4 other champions.
As a footnote, the French Open and Wimbledon seems to be opposite ends of the spectrum, you either win one or the other. There is one player who is a strange mix of all the above – Bjorn Borg who has 5 Wimbledon and 4 French Open titles.