Novak Djokovic has spent a lifetime walking in the shadows of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. For all his brilliance, for all his era-defining dominance and countless records – 328 weeks at world No 1, first player in the open era to win all four majors twice, four straight grand slam victories – his two great rivals remained stubbornly superior in the one area that offers the most obvious yardstick of greatness. Both had more grand slam titles.
Not any more; perhaps never again. On Sunday, after years of relentless pursuit, Djokovic finally drew level with Federer and Nadal on 20 majors after successfully defending his Wimbledon title with a 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.
In his younger days, Djokovic used to enjoy doing impersonations of his professional peers. How the chasing pack would like to imitate him now. Historic landmarks seem to topple like dominoes before the Serb. This was his third successive Wimbledon title and sixth in all, moving him ahead of Bjorn Borg. Only Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, with seven and eight titles respectively, have won more in the open era.
Djokovic, 34, is now three-quarters of the way to a possible grand slam, something last achieved by Rod Laver in 1969. Laver, however, belonged to an era when three of the four majors were played on grass; no one before Djokovic has won the first three majors of the year on three different surfaces. It remains to be seen whether he will travel to Tokyo for the Olympics but, were he to win a gold medal there and then go on to clinch a fourth US Open title, he would secure a “golden grand slam” – something no man in the sport’s history has achieved.
Djokovic may never match Federer and Nadal in the affections of the public – a fact underlined by the Centre Court crowd’s passionate support for the valiant Berrettini – but he has equalled them in the record books. Now he has the chance to end the debate about the greatest player of all time once and for all.
“I probably started thinking about trying to reach the record of most grand slams and most weeks at number one historically about, say, two to three years ago,” said Djokovic. “Before that it seemed a little bit out of reach, but I’ve always kind of believed that I could play my best tennis at grand slams and give myself a good chance to win any slam on any surface, because I know what I’m capable of … It’s incredible that it’s all coming together in the same year, that’s something that I didn’t expect. But I always dream of achieving the biggest things in sport.”
With the final point won, Djokovic went into a familiar routine. He fell backwards on the turf, his arms held aloft. He embraced his vanquished opponent. He crouched low to enjoy a mouthful of the Centre Court grass, as is his wont, and then ascended to the stands for a group hug with former champion Goran Ivanisevic and the rest of his team. Still chewing, he even had time to snap a selfie with a delighted young fan on the way back down. The man packs more experience into a few minutes than most of us gather in a lifetime. Djokovic has been living his life on fast-forward for a decade now. When he won his second major at the Australian Open in 2011, Federer had 16 grand slams and Nadal nine. He has eaten up ground in more ways than one.
Asked at courtside what it meant to finally draw level, he replied: “It means none of us three will stop, I think that’s what it means. I’ve mentioned this before many times, I have to pay a great tribute to Rafa and Roger, they are legends of our sport and they are the two most important players that I ever faced in my career. They are, I think, the reason that that I’m where I am today. They’ve helped me realise what I need to do in order to improve, to get stronger mentally, physically, tactically. When I broke into the top 10 for the first time, I lost for three, four years most of the big matches that I played against these two guys. Something shifted at the end of 2010, beginning of 2011, and the last 10 years has been an incredible journey that is not stopping here.”
Berrettini can attest to that. The Italian hammer, Djokovic called him. He should know. As the Serb acknowledged before the match, Berrettini, with his thunderous serve and firecracker forehand, had been the standout player of the grass-court season coming into the final. The last time a player won the Queen’s title on his debut, as Berrettini did a fortnight ago, he followed up with victory at the All England Club three weeks later. That man was Boris Becker, and it is a measure of Berrettini’s grass-court prowess that he fell only one match short of emulating the German’s landmark 1985 achievement.
Berrettini fought magnificently to become the first Italian in history to win Wimbledon. He recovered from a 2-5 deficit to save a set point and establish an early lead, but his determined resistance seemed only to force the world No 1 into a higher gear. The task facing the Italian against one of the best returners in history was apparent as early as the fourth game, when he struggled to land his first serve and was duly punished by the immaculate depth of Djokovic’s groundstrokes.
In short space, the nature of the challenge was underscored further, Berrettini threatening to take off his opponent’s head with a 127mph body serve only for Djokovic to improvise a return and come sprinting in to track down a drop shot. Berrettini won that point, but its significance was clear. The Italian would live or die by the quality of his serving; once the ball was in play, all bets were off. Berrettini battered down 16 aces in all, but ultimately he could not find the consistency to wrest the title from Djokovic’s grip. The Italian made just 59% of his first serves, placing too much pressure on a second delivery behind which he won barely a third of the points.
Having looked nervous at times early on, not least when he hit three double-faults in his first two service games, Djokovic quickly put the disappointment of losing the first-set tiebreak behind him. Early breaks in the next two sets put him on course for victory, and although he showed signs of irritation with the crowd, who engaged in football-style chanting for Berrettini ahead of the evening’s Euro 2020 final between England and Italy, his focus was unrelenting as the prize neared.
“I felt that I was in control of the match from the beginning of the second set,” said Djokovic. “It was not great that I lost the first set but, on the other hand, I felt like I just wanted get this first set over with, so I could start to swing through the ball and play the way I wanted to play. That started to happen in the first four games of the second set, 4-0 up very quickly, and I knew that at that moment the momentum shifted.”
With three majors down, could a grand slam follow in New York? “I could definitely envision that happening,” said Djokovic. “I’m hoping, you know, I’m going to definitely give it a shot. I’m in great form, playing well, and playing my best tennis at grand slams is the highest priority that I have right now at this stage of my career.