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Djokovic Explains His History Making Success
3 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Novak Djokovic smashed the Grand Slam record by winning his 23rd Grand Slam today vs Casper Ruud in three sets, surpassing the 22 deadlock with Rafael Nadal.
At his post match press conference, Djokovic pinpointed why he was able to become the undisputed greatest tennis player of all time…
“I have always compared myself to these guys (Federer and Nadal), because those two are the two greatest rivals I ever had in my career,” Djokovic said. “I have said it before many times that they have actually defined me as a player, and all the success that I have, they have contributed to it, in a way, because of the rivalries and the matchups that we had. Countless hours of thinking and analyzing and what it takes to win against them on the biggest stage for me and my team. It was just those two guys were occupying my mind for the past fifteen years quite a lot. In a professional sense. It’s amazing to know that I’m one ahead of both of them in majors.”
Djokovic’s obsession and mission to conquer and overcome Federer and Nadal was officially completed today but he says the job is not finished.
“When you talk about history, people mostly talk about the Grand Slams won or the amount of time you spent at the No. 1 ranking,” Djokovic said. “I have managed to break the records in both of these statistics, which is amazing… I don’t want to say that I am the greatest, because I feel, I’ve said it before, it’s disrespectful towards all the great champions in different eras of our sport that was played in completely different way than it is played today. I feel like each great champion of his own generation has left a huge mark, a legacy, and paved the way for us to be able to play this sport in such a great stage worldwide.”
“The journey is still not over,” Djokovic said. “I feel if I’m winning Slams, why even think about ending the career that already has been going on for twenty years. I still feel motivated. I still feel inspired to play the best tennis on these tournaments the most… I look forward already to Wimbledon.”
It’s still very possible Djokovic has not played his greatest tennis yet. At 36 he’s halfway to winning all four Grand Slam titles this year. The last man to win all four was Rod Laver in 1969. Federer and Nadal never did it – or came as close to Djokovic did in 2021 – he won the first three Grand Slams before losing to Medvedev in the US Open final 64 64 64.
It’s entirely possible Djokovic can win Wimbledon and US Open and win the “Grand Slam” which would affirm 2023 would be the greatest year of his ATP career.
But winning today in Paris was the landmark achievement as it’s highly unlikely the fading and aging Nadal can even threaten at any more Grand Slams.
Head tennis · Lacoste · Nole · Novak Djokovic · Roland Garros · Serbia · Wimbledon
Scoop Malinowski · June 12, 2023 at 8:50 am
This is one of the best features ever written about Novak Djokovic, you must read it. https://grandslammagazine.com/2023/06/11/djokovic-1-haters-0-why-djokovic-is-the-greatest-champion-of-all-time/
Matt Segel · June 12, 2023 at 2:51 pm
Great article… could have gone even further! Maybe 420 weeks at number 1!
Scoop Malinowski · June 12, 2023 at 4:59 pm
Thanks Matt, I wonder how many weeks the establishment stole from him via politics and corruption. Waiting for someone on twitter to do that research. It’s so amazing to think of how much adversity, corruption and resistance Novak Djokovic has had to overcome in his career. Fed and Rafa had it easy in comparison.