Big challenge for Djokovic. Will he open his way to a historic milestone at Wimbledon?

There are many records and challenges on the ATP circuit. Novak Djokovic recently achieved one such record at the French Open, when he won his twenty-third Grand Slam triumph. As the season progresses, the way is beginning to open up for him to reach another benchmark, and one that hasn’t been achieved in over fifty years.

Every tennis player’s dream is to triumph at one of the four Grand Slams. The most valuable events in the world of white sport are held annually in Australia, France, the United Kingdom and the USA. Only the best players win multiple Grand Slam titles in their careers, and only a truly exceptional tennis player can win all the majors at least once during his or her career.

Even players like Ivan Lendl, who failed to conquer Wimbledon, or Pete Sampras, who never won Roland Garros, have failed to complete this impressive collection. Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Björn Borg are also on the list of great tennis players who have missed at least one Grand Slam.

The greatness of the elite trio of recent years of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic is best demonstrated by the fact that all of the players mentioned have reached a career Grand Slam.

Thus, they won their title at the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. For Serbia’s Djokovic, the opportunity is even brighter this year. A calendar grand slam.

The calendar grand slam

Only one player in tennis history has managed to win all four majors in one calendar year. It was Australian Rod Laver, who achieved this feat in 1969.

Soon after the start of the open era in tennis. Since then, many great players have ruled the world tennis, some of them were on their way to this unique triumph, but none of them was successful.

We have to dig deeper into history to find at least partially successful attacks on this tennis milestone. The legendary Federer won all the titles except the French Open in 2004, where Gaston Gaudio rejoiced. The 2006 and 2007 seasons were similar, when Nadal stood in his way at Roland Garros.

The Spaniard again enjoyed three majors in 2010, but the one in Australia was in Federer’s pocket. And that brings us to Djokovic, who won three of the four Grand Slams in the 2011, 2015 and 2021 seasons.

Two years ago, the Serbian tennis player was very close to his dream medal. He was only missing the final step, winning the US Open for the fourth time in his career. In New York, he reached the final, but was not able to beat Medvedev of Russia. This year, he has another shot.

Djokovic in 2023

Djokovic continues on the ATP circuit and with the end of Federer’s career and at least a temporary suspension of Nadal’s time on the courts, he is the last of the legendary trio in action.

But let’s not be fooled, the competition is huge even without them and there’s no need to list it right here. It should be noted, the thirty-six-year-old Belgrade native knows how to prepare well for the biggest events and he looks sovereign in them.

One such event starts on July 3 at the All England Club and few would not put Djokovic among the main favourites here as well. Eurosport expert Laura Robson sees it the same way. Especially after his triumph in Paris, Djokovic will be the main favourite at Wimbledon as well.

“The huge confidence he has on this surface, the fact how many times he has succeeded in this tournament and also how comfortable he is on grass,” she lists the reasons why Djokovic is the clear favourite in her eyes.

Finally..

Anything can happen in a season and Djokovic is certainly not without competition. There are more players grinding their teeth for Wimbledon success, which we will soon introduce.

However, the number one favourite will be Djokovic and if he confirms this position, he will miss the last step to rewrite the historical records. Like in 2021, but this time maybe with a winning dot at the end.

Sources: ATP, ESPN, Eurosport