In today’s weekend blog, I am back on sports, and it is tennis this time.
It has been firmly established by now that Novak Djokovic is going to be the Greatest Player, the game of tennis has ever seen, and he is going to be known as GOAT (Greatest of All Time). In the recent past other contenders for GOAT were Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. But by the end of the 2023 season, it was very clear that Novak would be GOAT, when he won his 24th Grand Slam and won the year-end ATP title, and presently enjoying his 404th week as the number 1 men’s tennis player. He has beaten so many tennis records that people wonder what records that are remaining which he still can achieve.
The 2024 season will be like no other in Novak Djokovic’s career with a double visit to Roland Garros on the cards for French Open and Paris Olympics. Here are 5 records that Novak can break in the year 2024:
1 The King of the Last Eight Club
Djokovic needs two more Grand Slam quarter-final appearances to overtake Roger Federer for the last eight runs in the Majors. He has made it to the last eight at 57 Grand Slam tournaments winning an incredible 47 of those quarter-final matches. Another two quarters will also ensure that Djokovic stands as the man with the most Grand Slam titles, final appearances, semi-final appearances, and quarter-finals reached.
2 Grand Slam Match Wins
He needs nine more Grand Slam match wins to also seize the all-time Major match win record from great rival Roger Federer. Djokovic added 27 Grand Slam match wins to his tally in 2023, and he would need to have his worst season since his debut to miss out on breaking this record in the next 12 months. He is the only man to have won 80 or more matches at all four Grand Slams and in 2024 he could become the only man to have more than 90 match wins at each Grand Slam with one win in the Australian Open and two wins in the US Open.
3 Master Match Wins
He stands alone in terms of Master titles (40) won but trails Rafael Nadal by 7 matches in the overall ATP 1000 match win stakes. He missed the Sunshine Double in 2023 but will likely to back for Indian Wells and in the Miami Open even if he is out to manage his workload in an Olympic year. He could overtake Nadal during Miami Open but Nadal could also be back in action at the events and ready to defend his leads.
4 Miami Master Titles
Djokovic has been denied entry to the Miami Open for the last two seasons and remains locked in a tie as the record champion of the event. He is square at six apiece with Andre Agassi who can not add to his tally. Djokovic has not won Miami since 2016.
5 Oldest Grand Slam Champion
If Novak Djokovic wins the 2024 US Open he will become the oldest man to win a Grand Slam singles title by a month. He will be just one month older than Ken Rosewell was when he won the 1972 Australian Open.
Lastly, if either Djokovic or Nadal win the Olympic Gold Medal in Paris in 2024, they will become the oldest man to win the tennis competition in the Games history.
For tennis fans, 2024 is going to be an interesting year.
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
22nd December 2023