By defending his Australian Open title and continuing his fairy tale with Melbourne, Djokovic is now tied with Rod Laver and Björn Borg on 11 Grand Slam titles. His colleagues are just about to run out of words to say about his level: ‘Technically, tactically, mentally, he’s better than everybody. There’s nothing else to say.’ – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Djokovic expressed how he has never experienced anything quite like the crowd support he had when lifting his sixth Australian Open trophy, even when he won it 5 times previously. ‘Greatness unprecedented’ is undoubtedly to some extent, a premature title to this piece. However, projecting Djokovic’s future from here on, it is far too tempting not to consider the thought that he could equal Rafael Nadal and also Roger Federer’s number of Major titles very soon.
If he completes a career Slam at Roland Garros, defends his points and title at The All England Club, and defends more championship points again at the ‘Entertaining Slam’ at Flushing Meadows all within this season, he would stand at a record 14 Majors.
The only other active player with that count is of course Rafael Nadal. It was interesting to see Andy Murray attempt to compete against Djokovic; battling the many questions he entered the court with, a lot of them having to do with how many times he has seen Djokovic over the net in a Final in Melbourne.
In total, Murray has now been the runner-up in Melbourne in 5 occasions. Hence it was only fitting for his first words to be: ‘I feel like I’ve been here before’ when he assumed his position at the podium. Well into the second set of the match, it seemed as though he was only delaying the inevitable.
It must have crossed his mind (Murray), what he would be able to do differently, IF he would be able to do anything differently in order to get over the gigantic hurdle that was in front of him; when Federer, arguably the only player who had a good shot to beat Djokovic (tactically), was swept aside and reduced to appear a shadow of himself in the Semi-Final.
It is not that Murray cannot play aggressively; it is that what he can do, Djokovic can do better and more consistently. Andre Agassi won 5 Slams from 28 years on – talk is now about how many Djokovic still has in him. To continue from that premature projection at 14 Majors; should the Serbian and world number 1 (by the way, Djokovic is guaranteed to remain the world’s best player at least until early grass season) clean up at all 4 Majors next season (or even win 3 out of 4); he will tie the Swiss Roger Federer at 17! He will actually tie Federer by winning 3 out of 4 and will pass him if he wins all 4. Unbelievable?
The Non-Calendar Year Slam, the Career Slam, the Golden Slam and the Super Slam
Winning the 4 Major titles consecutively, but not within the season is known as the Non-Calendar Year Slam. Djokovic could very well achieve this since he won and defended his Wimbledon title in 2015, the US Open and has now won in Melbourne, and now stands at 3 consecutive Majors.
Like the previous 2 or 3 seasons, he looks geared to head into the French Open in the best shape to upset the King of Clay (because in frankness, Nadal remains the man to beat at Roland Garros despite all his recent woes). Still, it is very early in the season for all this. Let’s wait for the clay season. Completing or winning all 4 Majors at any point of a career is known as the Career Slam.
Djokovic is still hoping to achieve this as the French Open is the monkey on his back. Winning the Gold Medal (bearing in mind the Rio Olympics start from the 5th August until the 21st) in addition to the 4 Majors is the Golden Slam. Lastly, the Super Slam is when the Year-End trophy is added. These are heights that Djokovic is capable of reaching, but…no pressure.
Quick reflection on 2015 season
The reason(s) why Djokovic is capable of anything beyond remarkable at this point is: He was the first player since Federer in 2007 to successfully defend his Wimbledon title; he became the first player to beat Federer twice in Wimbledon Finals (2014 and 2015), he became only the second man to beat Nadal at the French Open, he became the first player to hold a winning and tied head-to-head record versus Federer at all 4 Majors, became the first player to ever win 6 Masters 1000 titles in a season, became the first player to win the Indian Wells-Miami double three times…
There’s more, but I think the picture is clear. Only one man can stop Novak Djokovic now, and his name is Novak Djokovic.
