The Novak Djokovic juggernaut will take some stopping

One of the novelties at Wimbledon this year has been some top players getting mic’d up during practice and engaging in a short conversation. As Novak Djokovic kicked off his hitting session with young Italian hopeful Jannik Sinner on Centre Court, he spoke about feeling on “cloud nine” and being “so enjoyable” returning to the fresh greens of All England Club.

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“Not used to hitting the ball and speaking, sorry,” Djokovic said apologetically. “But, haven’t missed a ball, still. Which is good.”

Sums up the Serb at SW19 since 2018 — hasn’t been stirred by a challenge; hasn’t been shaken off his ascendancy.

After moving past Rafael Nadal in the all-time men’s Grand Slam record tally by winning his 23rd at the French Open last month, Djokovic has entered Rafa-like territory at Wimbledon. Not quite in terms of the sheer volume of titles the 14-time Roland Garros champion has knocked off in Paris, but certainly in terms of the air of invincibility that the seven-time Wimbledon winner has built in London.

Since his second-set retirement in the quarter-final against Tomas Berdych during an injury-ravaged 2017 season, Djokovic has walked away from every Wimbledon match with a W to his name. That includes final victories against Kevin Anderson in 2018, Roger Federer in 2019 (remember that classic?), Matteo Berrettini in 2021 — the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the pandemic — and Nick Kyrgios last year for his fourth trophy on the trot.

If Court Philippe-Chatrier is Nadal’s kingdom, Centre Court has, of late, been Djokovic’s castle. One where the 36-year-old has not been breached since 2013, when Andy Murray — the only man other than the Big Three to win a Wimbledon title in the last two decades and who is still around and upbeat about this edition — got past him in the final.

Djokovic was a steadily surging six-time Grand Slam champion then. He is a ruthlessly ruling 23-time Slam winner now.

“Right now it’s 23. There’s always a quest for 24,” the mic’d up Djokovic said.

Should that happen in a fortnight, the world No.2 will match Margaret Court in the all-time Slam count, and Wimbledon wizard Federer for the most men’s singles titles at the grass-court Slam. The Calendar Slam chase, two years after Djokovic fell one step short at the US Open, would then be up and running again.

For now, it is hard to see who can catch up with the big beast at Big W this year. Casper Ruud, the world No.4 who played Djokovic in the French Open final, chose to play golf and attend concerts rather than chance his arm in tune-up events on the surface. More at home on clay, the Norwegian has never made it past the second round at Wimbledon.

Russia’s Daniil Medvedev — back after the tournament’s ban on Russians and Belarusians last year — and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, two men on either side of Ruud in the rankings, have never gone beyond the fourth round. These are performers who have either won or contested Grand Slam finals on hard and clay courts but have been a shadow of themselves on grass.

Until two weeks ago, world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz may well have been alongside these players. By capturing his first grass-court ATP title at the Queen’s Championships last Sunday though, the young Spaniard has become the top seed at Wimbledon and also arguably the top challenger to the Serb’s stranglehold on the title.

The 20-year-old US Open champion, struck down by nerves and cramp after two quality sets with Djokovic in the French Open semi-final, has only competed in two previous editions of the grass-court Slam, losing to Sinner (2022) and Medvedev (2021). What sets him apart from the others, however, is that Alcaraz has the game, be it power or touch, to be potentially successful on his least preferred surface.

“One of the things that you always look for in terms of success on grass is having a weapon. And Alcaraz has massive weapons,” Somdev Devvarman, India’s former top pro, said. “He can definitely do really well on grass.”

Whether Alcaraz has the weapons in his game and the composure just as yet to halt the Djoker juggernaut is a different question. Not that it concerns the man himself, anyway.

“For me, I don’t need to have Carlos or anybody else really to find that extra drive and motivation when I enter Slams, because I know that I have to win seven matches to win a title,” Djokovic said ahead of the start to his title defence against Argentina’s Pedro Cachin on Monday.

“So, whoever I get to face across the net, it doesn’t make a difference for me. I need to do what I need to do.”

Which, since 2018, has been winning Wimbledon.