An argument could be made that even prior to winning gold at these 2024 Olympic games, Novak Djokovic was already the most decorated tennis athlete in history, man or woman. This man has won 24 career Grand Slam singles titles, which is more than any other man in tennis history. No woman has won more Grand Slam titles than him, either. He qualified for 37 Grand Slam Finals (so far), which is more than anyone else in history. And he at one point became the first tennis player in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles consecutively on four different surfaces, which nobody had done before (although it was not a calendar Grand Slam).
It goes beyond Grand Slams, however. Djokovic has spent a total of 428 weeks atop the men's rankings, which is 118 weeks (or significantly over two years worth of time) more tha his next closest competitor, Roger Federer, and significantly more than Stefi Graf on the women's side, who held the number one ranking for a record total of 377 weeks on the women's side. Djokovic was the year end's number one ranked player eight times, which is more than the next closest guy, Pete Sampras, with six. He is the only man to have spent time as the number one ranked man in 13 different years, and was the oldest player ever to be ranked number one, at age 37. He lost it just a few weeks ago, to the very man whom he just defeated in the Gold Medal Match at the Olympics, Carlos Alcaraz.
Plus, you get the feeling that Djokovic is not done. True, this year has not been the best for him. He had the number one ranking earlier in the year, but lost it. He reached the Wimbledon Final, but lost to Alcaraz, who had also just won the French Open title, to further solidify his hold on the number one ranking. This year, Djokovic has not won a Grand Slam title, and he has only one more chance to win one, at the US Open in just a few weeks.
Yet, whether he wins it or not, the Olympics are a bit different. After all, they come around only once every four years, and it is a chance for athletes to win something for their country. Djokovic has participated in the Olympics before. Numerous times, actually. He won bronze in the 2008 Beijing games. He lost the Bronze Medal Match at the 2012 London games to Del Portro. He lost to Del Potro again in the 2016 Rio games, this time in the first round. And he lost the Bronze Medal Match again in the 2020 Rio games, this time to Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta. Now, in this fifth try, he finally won Olympic gold.
So he has added something truly major to his already historically dominant resume of achievements in tennis. He now has added winning Olympic Gold for his country, which was the one last remaining achievement in the sport which he had pursued, but which had eluded him.
It was not easy. He had to get past the man who replaced him as the current world number one, 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz. It was a tough, grueling match, despite only lasting two sets, with Djokovic ultimately prevailing, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2).
However, Djokovic did it. This is something which he described as the greatest achievement of his career. That is basically the same thing which Andre Agassi said when describing just what winning an Olympic gold medal meant to him. It feels like that adds even more prestige to the feat, as if more prestige were needed regarding achieving glory in the Olympic games.
Also, keep in mind that some of the best names in tennis history never got to win a gold medal themselves. I will not include players who played before tennis was introduced as a competitive sport in the Olympics, which happened for the first time - rather inexplicably, frankly - in 1988. But since then, plenty of the most accomplished players have competed for gold....and not gotten it. Let's stick with the men, for now:
Federer tried in 2000, in 2004, again in 2008, and one last time in 2012. To be fair, he did win a gold medal in doubles in the 2008 Beijing games, so that needs to be taken into consideration. But he did not win gold in the men's single competition. Neither did Pete Sampras, although it should be noted that Sampras did not compete in 1996 because of an injury. But he did compete in the 1992 games, and could have competed in the 2000 Sydney games, but opted out of it, if memory serves correctly, because of a more lucrative offer. That to me does not speak well of him, and it deserves to be counted against him. Other top players have tried and failed to win Olympic gold, as well. Stefan Edburg. Boris Becker. Jim Courier. Michael Chang. Thomas Muster. Gustavo Kuerten. Marat Safin. Lleyton Hewitt. Patrick Rafter. Carlos Moya. Stan Wawrinka (although he won that doubles gold medal with fellow countryman Roger Federer). And for now, at least, Carlos Alcaraz, although Djokovic predicted that Alcaraz would someday win gold at some future Olympics.
That's a fairly long list, and it's just from the top of my head. There may be more names missing, and again, those are just on the men's side, and just since 1988, so it would be perhaps unfair to add names like Laver, Emerson, Borg, Connors, McEnroe, and even Lendl, who had a controversy involving the Olympics, when he refused to represent his former country of Czechoslovakia, but said that he would be willing to represent the United States.
Anyway, the point to me is this: as he says in one of the interviews (see below), Djokovic now really has finally achieved all that he could achieve in tennis, at least in men's singles competition. Eight years ended as the world number one, more time spent atop the rankings than any other player, and it's not even close. 24 career Grand Slam titles, which is more than anyone else, and 37 career Grand Slam Finals appearances, also more than anyone else. Add the Olympic title this year, and his tennis career now sure appears to have nothing missing. The one major title that had eluded him he has now captured.
There is no real debate as to whether he was the best tennis player in history based on his accomplishments on the court. Fourth on the list of most accomplished tennis players likely would be Pete Sampras, but Sampras never won at the French Open, and never won at the Olympics. Then we have Roger Federer. Federer fans sometimes still insist that the Swiss great was greater, but they base that on style and, presumably, likeability. After all, the numbers by this point are pretty much all in favor of Djokovic, including head-to-head record.
So that leaves Rafael Nadal. Nadal is second on the list in terms of most Grand Slam titles, with 22. The one thing that he had over Djokovic outright was that he had won gold at the Olympic, but Djokovic has that now among his own accomplishments, as well. Nadal was clearly the best on clay, although Djokovic managed to beat him several times on clay, including twice at the French Open, which means that he is the only man to have defeated the undisputed "King of Clay" at the French Open more than once. In head-to-head, Djokovic leads the rivalry, 31-29 in the 60 meetings that they had together. Nadal does lead the rivalry in Grand Slam Finals, 5-4., and 11-7 overall in their 18 meetings at Grand Slam events. Plus, Nadal's dominance on the clay surface makes him a special case, because he was more dominant on that surface than anyone else - man or woman - has ever been on any surface including clay, before or since.
These debates about the GOAT tend to be more opinion than fact. However, by winning this gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Djokovic now has made the most compelling case, in my opinion, as the most accomplished tennis player in history, or the GOAT. I know that he has had some issues with likeability in the past (and not the distant past, either), and I will myself admit to not always being thrilled with how Djokovic has conducted himself. However, that seems besides the point, because he now can claim to have achieved more than any other tennis player in history, and he wouldn't be wrong.
Plus, he's not done yet.
Ivanisevic says Djokovic is not done yet: “It wouldn’t surprise me to see him in Los Angeles as well” by Sasa Ozmo, 5 August 2024:
In a Tennis Majors exclusive, Novak Djokovic’s former coach Goran Ivanisevic reveals what impressed him the most about the Serbian’s win in Paris, and a wish he still has for Djokovic, among many other things 5 August 2024
https://www.tennismajors.com/olympic-games/ivanisevic-says-djokovic-is-not-done-yet-it-wouldnt-surprise-me-to-see-him-in-los-angeles-as-well-777303.html
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