Novak Djokovic has often acknowledged that he was forced to dig deeper and become the best version of the player he could be because of the enduring three-man rivalry that tennis witnessed for over a decade. But, at 36, he is pulling away into a league of his own.
Djokovic’s 24th Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open put him on par with Margaret Court (she won a share of her 24 titles in the amateur era) in the list of all-time Major winners. The next best are Rafael Nadal (22) and Roger Federer (20), the two who propelled the boundaries of tennis with their duels before Djokovic unexpectedly joined them — starting slow, gaining ground, drawing level, charging ahead, and then pulling away. Even when the 2018 season began with Djokovic on 12 Slams, the sport’s statistical greatest of all time (GOAT) narrative was a two-way race between the Swiss Federer and the Spaniard Nadal. But two seasons later, the Serb had astonishingly started knocking on the door of Club 20.
Last year, Federer halted his Slam run. Nadal is now fast approaching the end of the road. And Djokovic, already past them, is raising the bar to an unattainable level. Djokovic says he thrives on motivation, and when he doesn’t find it in something — chasing the No 1 ranking or the highest Slam count — he can switch off. A stunning defeat to 20-year-old Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final in July seems to have reawakened him. A generational duel for the ages, it was the passing of the baton, they said in London. Hand it back to me, Djokovic replied in New York: I’m not done yet.
Embrace independence with quality journalism
Save on HT + The Economist subscription
