From Jürgen Kemmner
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Novak Djokovic celebrates his victory at Wimbledon and the 20th Grand Slam title – but that is only a milestone for the Serb. Photo: dpa/Adam Davy
Novak Djokovic triumphs in the tournament at Wimbledon over the Italian Matteo Berrettini and thus celebrates his 20th Grand Slam success. But that’s not enough for the Serbs: He wants the Golden Slam.
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Stuttgart / London – The beginning of the story is dated January 27, 2008, even if the then 20-year-old tennis professional Novak Djokovic had already made a name for himself in the high society of sports a few years earlier and was third in the world rankings at the time was found above. But on that Sunday in January, the Serb defeated French Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4: 6, 6: 4, 6: 3, 7: 6 in the final of the Australian Open and celebrated his first success in a Grand Slam tournament.
Novak Djokovic refined the story on July 11, 2021. At the age of 34 he beat the Italian Matteo Berrettini 6: 7, 6: 4, 6: 4, 6: 3 in the final at Wimbledon – it was the 20th triumph in a Grand Slam final for the “Djoker”, and it was a historic one: With number 20, the Order Bearer of the Republic of Serbia drew level with the front runners Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Rafael Nadal (Spain). One month after his success in the quarter-final duel against the Italian at the French Open, the big favorite wobbled a few times after losing the first set in the tie-break – but in the end he got the upper hand in front of 15,000 fans. “The past ten years have been an unbelievable journey that never ends,” said the winner. “A seven-year-old boy once built a Wimbledon trophy with improvised materials. And now he’s here with his sixth title. “
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20 Grand Slam successes, much more honor and fame are almost impossible in tennis. Of course there is also what is commonly known as the Grand Slam, the triumph in the four most important tournaments within a calendar year. Djokovic is about to build this work of the century – he won the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon in 2021, all that’s missing is victory at the US Open in Flushing Meadows in September. This would make the Serb (at least in terms of success) the greatest player that the tennis world has ever seen. So far, only two men have been able to complete this masterpiece – Donald Budge from the USA in 1938 and the legendary Australian Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969. But at that time there was not this relentless pressure to perform and this perfectionist professionalism in the tennis circus as in the 21st century. It is equivalent to squaring the circle or the invention of the perpetual motion machine. “I think that winning all four Grand Slams in one year is impossible”, Nadal mused in 2013, “to win these tournaments you have to beat Roger Federer, David Ferrer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. It’s impossible to be 100 percent all the time. But if your level is lower, you will lose to them. ”The Spaniard celebrated in Paris, London and New York in 2010, but lacked victory in Melbourne.
Read from our offer: Djokovic’s faux pas at the US Open
Novak Djokovic can apparently always bring 100 percent, he seems to be the perpetual motion machine in the tennis world. The Grand Slam is tangible, and what’s more: the Golden Slam. The triumph in the big four tournaments garnished with Olympic gold. Steffi Graf showed how to do it in 1988, until today nobody was able to do the same as the Germans. A unique story, as many experts agreed. But now comes Dominator Djokovic. “I’ve achieved some things that many people thought would not be possible for me,” said the Belgrade star after his triumph in Paris Winning the Golden Slam. “
Contradiction would be pointless and totally unjustified. Because the big opponents are no longer in the juice like the current number one in the scene. Nadal is a year older and often injured, while Federer is about to retire at 39.
Djokovic tops the world rankings for 328 weeks
Djokovic has the potential to do so. He is the first player since the introduction of professional tennis in 1968 to win all four Grand Slam tournaments at least twice. He was able to defeat Federer three times in his living room Wimbledon and Nadal twice at his clay court weeks in Paris. And one more thing: Djokovic was the only one in every Grand Slam at least six times in the final – the man who tops the world rankings for a total of 328 weeks has no shivering surface. On hard court, Djokovic is number one of the big three, on sand the two behind Nadal, on grass at least the two. The Olympic tournament in Tokyo will be played on hard court (final on August 1st), as will the US Open (final on September 12th). It looks like the dramaturgy was entirely attributed to Novak Djokovic.
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