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LONDON — It has been greater than half a century for the reason that nice Australian Rod Laver received all 4 majors in the identical 12 months — Wimbledon, US Open, French Open and Australian Open — for the calendar-year Grand Slam.
No man since has come shut — till now.
Novak Djokovic‘s 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win over Matteo Berrettini at Wimbledon on Sunday ties the world No. 1 with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal atop the all-time males’s listing with 20 Grand Slams.
It means he’s the primary man since Laver to win the primary three Grand Slam occasions — the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon — and the dream of all 4 is drawing nearer.
Having chased down Federer and Nadal, Djokovic at 34 now stands poised to make much more historical past.
“I may undoubtedly envisage that taking place,” Djokovic stated on the courtroom after his win. “I am hoping. I’m going to undoubtedly give it a shot. I am in nice type, I am clearly enjoying effectively and enjoying my finest tennis at Grand Slams is the best precedence I’ve proper now at this stage of my profession. Let’s maintain it going.”
Although Steffi Graf managed the calendar-year Grand Slam in 1988, no man has been in a position to do it, the cumulative impact, bodily and mentally, proving an excessive amount of for anybody to recover from the road.
Till Sunday, solely Mats Wilander (1988), Jim Courier (1992) and Djokovic (2016) had even received the primary two Slams of a 12 months, every of them falling brief at Wimbledon.
Now, Djokovic has all three within the bag, and the motivation to finish the deal will certainly be sufficient to maintain him combating all the best way to the US Open.
However the efficiency of Matteo Berrettini within the last at Wimbledon is a reminder that though the brand new era of gamers has but to knock Djokovic, Nadal and Federer off their perch, the kids are making their lives harder.
Although Djokovic noticed off Daniil Medvedev in three units on the Australian Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas took the primary two units off Djokovic within the French Open last and Berrettini pushed him arduous at Wimbledon.
Medvedev, Tsitsipas, defending champion Dominic Thiem and final 12 months’s runner-up, Alexander Zverev, will all go to the US Open with hope. And that is to not point out Nadal, who has received in New York on 4 events.
Like Graf, Djokovic probably has an Olympic Video games to suit into the combo. Ought to he select to play — after Sunday’s win, he stated he was “50/50” due to the restrictions — his quest for a primary Olympics gold medal in singles can be an added inspiration but in addition an additional hurdle.
When Laver received the Grand Slam in 1969 — having additionally achieved it in 1962 when tennis was nonetheless newbie — three of the 4 occasions have been performed on grass, with the French Open the outlier on clay.
Djokovic has received the US Open 3 times, most not too long ago in 2018, and the worrying factor for his rivals is that Djokovic received his sixth Wimbledon title with out maybe ever enjoying his finest.
For Djokovic, Federer and Nadal to have received 20 Grand Slams apiece in the identical period is one thing that may virtually certainly by no means be performed once more. They’ve every impressed one another, pushed one another and proceed to carry out the very best in one another.
He might need joined the pair at 20, however Djokovic shouldn’t be glad but.
“Within the first three or 4 years, I misplaced many of the huge matches I performed towards Roger and Rafa,” he stated. “One thing shifted on the finish of 2010, begin of 2011. The final 10 years has been an unimaginable journey. That isn’t stopping right here.”
The feelings of what he already has achieved, plus the stress of getting the calendar-year Grand Slam on the road on the US Open, will ask the hardest of questions of him.
But when anybody’s outfitted to deal with the stress and get the job performed, it is Djokovic.
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