Roland Garros/French Open
Image courtesy of Yann Caradec's Flickr page - Roland Garros 2008: https://www.flickr.com/photos/la_bretagne_a_paris/2548469251/in/photolist-4Tcz82-6tZnxV-87P6sX-ey7ZS4-4Th8wE-eiptGP-6uaRCZ-87vLZp-86G6Ka-ey9ecr-c7XVQu-nCzATg-eBzLQm-nCAVGe-nWRDSg-nT31do-dGmT28-nCzje4-nCzR2q-nT2Xd5-nV4Xqn-nT2ASf-eZKnLF-6urJ2w-nUM8dD-nCzJ2p-nUWDeU-caonqS-nCzGrQ-nUWRpA-nCzE6t-ewJaxS-ekA48R-nWRBFT-nULZA4-nCAKKF-nUWLLs-9T16gt-nT2zmu-nCALjX-ezweD2-9T15Lr-nULZgB-ewEXSc-nUMjfi-ewJ9fS-6qwFaz-ezzoMd-9LRAp8-ewJ9S1
Photo courtesy of Yann Caradec's Flickr Page - Novak Djokovic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/la_bretagne_a_paris/5763317762
Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Photo courtesy of Yann Caradec's Flickr Page - Rafael Nadal: https://www.flickr.com/photos/la_bretagne_a_paris/5756335239 Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Novak Djokovic won his second career French Open title in very dramatic fashion. He survived through his first five matched, which was more or less according to plan. But then, he had to survive the "King of Clay" at centre court in the semifinal. In an epic match that some suggested was one of the greatest matches of all time, Djokovic survived to advance to the final. Then, after losing a very competitive first set, and then getting blown out in the second set, Djokovic seemed to turn it up a notch or two. Eventually, he won the match, and his second French Open title.
So now, once again, we enter the debate about who is the greatest tennis player of all time. With this win, Djokovic can now lay claim to perhaps rightly be regarded as the GOAT.
Novak Djokovic already deserves to be regarded as one of the truly greatest players in tennis history. But after knocking off Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros in the semifinal, he should now receive serious consideration for the greatest tennis player in history. The list of his still growing accomplishments is simply astonishing.
What are some of those accomplishments?
He has been ranked number one longer than any other man in history. Yes, longer than Roger Federer. Federer held the overall number one ranking for 310 weeks total. Djokovic has held the number one ranking for a total of 324 weeks and counting. It is not impossible that Federer could reach the number one ranking again, but given his age, how prone he is to injuries, and that he has consistently not gotten the better of either Djokovic or Nadal, it now seems increasingly unlikely that Federer will obtain the number one ranking anymore. But Djokovic currently holds the number one ranking, and has held it since August 24th of last year. With his success thus far this year, it seems likely that no other man will contend for the number one ranking that Djokovic currently possesses anytime soon, either. After all, he won the Australian Open earlier this year, and currently has a fairly comfortable lead over the current number two ranked player, Daniil Medvedev.
Speaking of the Australian Open, when Djokovic won the title earlier this year, it was for a third consecutive time, and for the ninth time overall in his career, which is a record. The only man who has won more of any individual Grand Slam championships than Djokovic has at the Australian Open would be Rafael Nadal, at Roland-Garros. And Djokovic just defeated Nadal at Roland-Garros, for the second time in his career. He is one of only two men in history to have defeated Nadal here at the terre battue of Paris, and he is now the only man to have done it more than once, proving it was no fluke. Roger Federer managed to beat Nadal once or twice on the clay courts, but he never managed to do it where it matters the most, at the French Open, although he had numerous opportunities. Dominic Thiem, the man who many believed was the heir apparent to Rafael Nadal for clay court dominance, also never succeeded in beating Nadal on the clay courts of Roland-Garros. But Djokovic has not only managed the monumental feat, but he has in fact done it twice.
Overall, Djokovic has now won 19 career Grand Slam titles. He has been to 29 Grand Slam finals throughout his career, two behind the record holder, Roger Federer, who made it to 31 Grand Slam finals in his career, and now one ahead of Rafael Nadal, who has qualified for 28 Grand Slam finals.
In head to head competition, Nadal is one of the few men to hold a winning record over some of the true elites of the game, as well. Against Federer, he holds a 27-23 record in the 50 meetings that the two have had, including 4-1 in Grand Slam finals meetings, and 11-6 in Grand Slam meetings overall. And against Nadal, Djokovic also holds a lead, albeit a narrow one. The two men had entered their French Open semifinal showdown tied, 28-28, splitting their previous 56 meetings. With the win, Djokovic managed to take a narrow lead in the rivalry. However, Nadal holds the overall lead in their Grand Slam showdowns, at 10-6. Nadal also holds a narrow 5-4 lead in their Grand Slam finals meetings.
No shame in that. And again, overall, Djokovic holds a slight lead in the total meetings that he has played against Nadal.
There is also this advantage that Djokovic has over both Federer and Nadal: he once held all four Grand Slam titles at once. It was not a calendar Grand Slam, to be sure. But he won the Wimbledon and US Open titles in 2015, and then followed that up with the 2016 Australian Open title, and then finally broke through for his first French Open title later that year, allowing him to lay claim to an impressive achievement that neither of the other two men have managed. In fact, nobody has managed that feat since Rod Laver managed to win the calendar Grand Slam back in 1969, more than half a century ago now.
And with this impressive French Open tournament that Djokovic has achieved, it now must be said that he has elevated himself beyond the other two true giants of men's tennis today.
Yes, Djokovic likely now should indeed be remembered as probably the greatest overall men’s tennis player in history. While he trailed both Federer and Nadal in both popular perception and in terms of actual achievement for a number of years, and has struggled to get fully past their shadows throughout his career, I believe that this latest achievement now gets him entirely past both of his closest competitors in a way that simply cannot be ignored. He now holds a number of advantages over both men, individually and collectively. And again, the list of accomplishments does not yet feel like it is over for Djokovic. I suspect that there are still a few years of truly elite tennis left in his tank. In other words, when all is said and done, my own suspicion is that Djokovic will have surpassed both of his top rivals in what seems to be the most important distinction in the eyes of tennis fans: the most overall Grand Slam titles.
Of course, we shall see, one way or the other. Anything can happen, after all. You never know. But it would be not merely surprising, but shocking, frankly, if Djokovic does not add to his already staggering collection of Grand Slam trophies.
It is enough to say, now, that Djokovic has already laid claim to being the greatest tennis player in history.
As for the semifinal match itself, it was entertaining and dramatic enough to qualify it as the greatest match in tennis history, according to some. Tennis legend Chris Evert said that if there was a movie about it, it would have to be named “the greatest match ever played.” Mats Wilander suggested that the two men (Djokovic and Nadal) are not human, suggesting that the tennis on display was superhuman. Former rival Andy Murray also had praise for the match, saying on Twitter:
Even Djokovic himself said that this was the best he has ever played on clay, and one of the top three moments of his already legendary career.
Djokovic won that epic semifinal match against Nadal 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. It was four sets, but it took well over four hours, some momentum swings, and some incredibly tense moments. Remember, that Rafael Nadal has been just so dominant on the terre battue, that he has earned the moniker as the King of the Clay courts. Nobody will dispute that, despite his loss to Djokovic in the French Open semifinals earlier this year. Mostly, it speaks volumes about the will and character of Djokovic.
As for Roger Federer, one thing that perhaps has hurt him was, ironically, his early, stellar legacy. Like most people at the time, I just kind of figured that Federer was the greatest tennis player ever, and that we would ever see, back in the 2000's. Remember, he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003, when he was 22. By the time that Nadal won his first Grand Slam title at the French Open in 2005, Federer had won four Grand Slam titles in his career, and had established himself as the number one ranked player in quite dominant fashion. He would win two more Grand Slams that year, and would win three Grand Slam titles in both 2006 and 2007, before Nadal finally started to emerge as a truly elite player overall, and not just on clay courts, in 2008. With that win, Nadal secured his fourth overall career Grand Slam title, but Federer was quite far ahead, with 12 career Grand Slams by that point. When Nadal would suffer an injury in 2009, Federer stepped up and, to his credit, won his one and only French Open championship, and then followed it up with Wimbledon.
By that point, we had all grown so used to crowning Federer as the greatest tennis player even, and he likely had grown so used to hearing that praise heaped upon him, that it was taken for granted. But alas, slowly but surely, both Nadal and Djokovic began to close in and, in Nadal's case, to outright catch up, at least in terms of career grand slam wins. As for Djokovic, he still would need at least one more to tie the other two, but he holds almost every other truly meaningful record in tennis at this point. He has passed Federer with the most weeks overall as the number one ranked man, and passed both Federer and Nadal in becoming the only man in the Open Era to have won each Grand Slam title multiple times.
What does Nadal have over Federer in the debate over who is the GOAT? Well, he beat him in every Grand Slam event except for the US Open, where the two have never met. He also won an Olympic gold medal in men's singles competition, which Federer came close to doing, but never quite got (he won the silver in 2012). Nadal is one of a very few men who won Grand Slam titles as a teenager, in his twenties, and in his thirties. The only other man who I can think of who managed the same feat was Pete Sampras. Finally, there is the decisive advantage in head-to-head competition.
What does Djokovic have over Federer in the debate over who is the GOAT? Well, he has been ranked number one for more weeks overall, by an increasingly decisive margin. He has been ranked number one at the end of more years than Federer, with Djokovic having tied the record of six by Sampras. Federer has ended five years atop the men's rankings. Djokovic also held all four Grand Slam titles at once, something that no other man has done in over half a century now. Finally, in head to head competition, Djokovic hold a significant advantage, including in their meetings at Grand Slam events.
One other thing that both Djokovic and Nadal have over Federer is this: they have scored more major successes on Federer's strongest Grand Slam tournament, which would be Wimbledon, than Federer has had over them. Djokovic and Federer met five times at the Australian Open, and Djokovic won four of those five meetings. By contrast, on the Wimbledon grass courts, Federer also sports a losing record against Djokovic during his career, with three losses to just one win. They split evenly in the other two Grand Slam tournaments. As for Nadal, he famously defeated Federer in that epic 2008 Wimbledon Final, although Federer defeated Nadal twice at Wimbledon (although one was while Nadal was really just beginning to come out of being specifically a clay court specialist). At the French Open, on the other hand, Nadal is a perfect 6-0 against Federer. Nadal also holds a solid 3-1 career record over Federer at the Australian Open. Finally, rather surprisingly, the pair have never met at the US Open.
With this French Open win, Djokovic now seems to have finally earned the respect from his peers and the sports world overall that he has long deserved, but which he never really received. He deserves the adoration that the crowd seems to give both Federer and Nadal so richly. They never seemed to warm to him like they did with the other two. But that might be changing now, as Djokovic continues with his incredible, and now really virtually untouched, set of achievements already. Nor do any of us imagine that his incredible achievements on the court are suddenly going to stop. He likely will continue to win, continue to add to his already unbelievable trophy collection and list of accomplishments. Indeed, I think he already deserves to be considered the GOAT in men's tennis.
FRENCH OPEN: 'THESE MATCHES CHANGE COURSE OF HISTORY' - IVANOVIC ON NOVAK DJOKOVIC, RAFAEL NADAL, GOAT DEBATE BY TOM ADAMS PUBLISHED 12/06/2021:
Novak Djokovic's stunning victory over Rafael Nadal in the French Open semi-finals is the talk of tennis. Former champion Ana Ivanovic joined the Eurosport coverage of the women's final at Roland Garros on Saturday and shared her thoughts on her fellow Serb after he reignited the eternal GOAT debate...
https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/roland-garros/2021/french-open-these-matches-change-course-of-history-ivanovic-on-novak-djokovic-rafael-nadal-goat-deba_sto8370665/story.shtml
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