The dawn of the Djokovic Era

There has perhaps never been another player in all of sport who has openly worn his eagerness to be loved as well as his sadness at not receiving as much of it as he believes he deserves as Novak Djokovic. Because the essence of tennis lies in its primitive, mano a mano nature, the sport tends to lend itself beautifully to the hero and villain narrative. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal? Heroes. Daniil Medvedev and Nick Kyrgios? Villains. All of them seem comfortable in their skin; or at least comfortable enough in the compartments that we have placed them in.

With Djokovic, however, the walls of those compartments and all lines in between good and evil or protagonist and antagonist seem to blur—all while pining to belong to one side and constantly being drawn to the opposite end. Perhaps this was why he found himself shaking his head in disbelief at the US Open in 2015 as the largest tennis stadium in the world thundered down boos while he was on match-point against Federer; possibly also why he ended up hiring a spiritual guru who specialised in long hugs.

What he has been denied most certainly drove Djokovic headlong towards a title that is both undeniable and unambiguous—the most successful male tennis player that ever lived. In an era where even terms like “best” and “greatest of all time” are up for interpretation, Djokovic finds himself on the brink of two simultaneous records that have no ambivalence or even equals in the craziest age of the game—a 21st Grand Slam title to pull one away from Federer and Nadal and a Calendar Grand Slam. Both records undeniably signify ultimate success and Djokovic is within sniffing distance of achieving both in one go over the upcoming fortnight in New York.

For a moment, try to forget about Djokovic’s anti-vaxxing stance or even the frequent and frustrating exhibitions of his acutely flawed character on a tennis court in the past year. Which include his default from the last US Open for smacking a ball at a lineswoman in the throat; then there was the outburst at this year’s French Open where, in distilled rage, Djokovic enacted flinging his racquet towards his coaching box in which his wife too was seated; and there was of course the smashing of his racquet against the net-post and receiving a violation at the Tokyo Olympics.

That poor form was a relatively lesser crime than pulling out of the mixed doubles bronze medal match on the following day and abandoning his partner Nina Stojanovic on the cusp of what would’ve been her greatest hour. “Only I can know the feelings I dealt with once I had found out I will not have the chance to play the most important match of my career,” Stojanovic later wrote on Instagram.

Forget all of that; and forgive too if you can. Because if he is seen purely through the lens of a professional tennis player, there has never been anyone quite like Djokovic. How else do you explain his audacity to enter a circuit with not one but two already fully formed all-time greats and train his mind, body and game to not only compete but also somehow, magically, impossibly, become better than them. Already he has a better head-to-head record against Federer and Nadal; now his overall Grand Slam tally could shoulder over them as well.

Possibly greater than No.21—for Nadal could well get there next year—is the other, more impossible, feat that Djokovic has spent the year contemplating: all four Slams in a calendar. So rare is that achievement that it was last recorded in men’s tennis by Rod Laver in 1969, admittedly at a time, as Laver put it, “when a lot of people didn’t look at the four major tournaments as a Grand Slam.” Also, as recently as the early 90s, even big names such as Andre Agassi would simply skip the Australian Open because the country was too far.

That’s far from the case now—with the Slams unanimously hailed as the pinnacle of the sport—so it makes sense that Djokovic believes winning all four in the same year, especially when your nearest rivals haven’t, will truly set him apart. He said so himself. Asked in his press appearance in New York if the Calendar Slam is a greater achievement than even the overall lead in the Grand Slam count, Djokovic nodded. “It’s an easy question. Yes, it would be,” he said. “I’m going to have more opportunities in my life to win Slams. I don’t know if I’m going to be having more opportunities to win Calendar Slams.”

He may not have done it yet, but Djokovic sure knows what it takes. Between Wimbledon 2015 and his maiden French Open title in 2016, Djokovic held all four Slams at the same time. Still, so phenomenal was that achievement that no man, including Rod Laver, has done so on four different surfaces (in 1969, three of the four Majors were played on grass).

Of all the other great men to have played this game between Laver and Djokovic, only Federer came close to showing the consistency to win all four Slams in a row. In 2009, the year he won his first French Open and sixth Wimbledon, Federer found himself two sets to one up against Juan Martin del Potro in the US Open final. Given what he knows now, that he would win the following Australian Open too, Federer’s biggest regret in an otherwise glorious career remains not closing out the match against the Argentine. That, and perhaps not being around for this US Open to stop Djokovic from leapfrogging over his Slam record.

In a US Open draw without Federer, Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and defending champion Dominic Thiem, Djokovic finds himself seven matches from finally breaking away from the pack. Since he made his first Grand Slam final in New York way back in 2007, Djokovic has been part of the greatest chase in tennis history, reeling in Nadal and Federer one trophy at a time. Soon that chase may conclude, only for the sport’s greatest chaser to then be chased.

When, not if, that happens, Djokovic too may just be loved.

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