Will Novak Djokovic Become the Best Ever Tennis Player?

Novak Djokovic was born on the May 22, 1987 so he is currently 31 years old. He is currently ranked number one in the ATP world rankings. As of the February 28, 2019 he has won 846 matches, 32 ATP 1000, events and 15 grand slams. He was won the last three grand slams: 2018 Wimbledon, the 2018 US Open, and the 2019 Australian open. This is an incredible achievement since in he missed six months of the season in 2017 and started 2018 with several early round exits. He lost to Hyeon Chung in the fourth round of the Australian open, Taro Daniel in the second round at Indian Wells, and Benoît Paire at the same stage of the tournament in Miami. However, his form began to change as it came to the clay court season with Novak stating, "It's the first time in two years I've been able to play without pain," referring to the constant elbow problems that had caused him pain. He got to the third round in Monte Carlo, knocked out early in both Barcelona and Madrid, but got to the semi-final of Rome when he was knocked out by the eventual champion Rafael Nadal. He got knocked out in the quarterfinal at the second gland slam of that year after showing some signs of improvement. He went on to dominate the season after this, only losing four more times to Marin Cilic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Karen Khachanov, and Alexander Zverev to reclaim the top spot.

Novak Djokovic has the potential to hold all four grand slam titles for the second time. He is the only man in the open era to hold them all at once. He is the most successful man at the Australian Open, holding seven titles, he's also won one French Open, four Wimbledon titles, and three US Open titles. He has also won every single 1000 Masters title, as the only man to do so in the open era. Many tennis pundits believe that he can become the greatest male player in the open era. He has the third most grand slam titles, behind Roger Federer who has 20, and Rafael Nadal who has 17. These three are normally the three who many believe to be the greatest. Novak Djokovic has a positive head-to-head against both of these men. Novak is 25 wins and 22 loses vs. Federer, with 28 wins and 25 loses vs. Nadal. Both Federer and Nadal have managed to win all four slams, but neither man has managed to win all four at the same time. Novak Djokovic has done it once, and could potentially do it again. Novak is the only man who has been able to go up against Nadal on clay and play with Federer on grass.

I believe that Novak Djokovic will overtake Nadal in his grand slam amount and get very close to Federer's total of 20. This depends on whether Roger can compete at the top of the sport and whether any on the young players can compete at grand slams. Dominic Theim, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Denis Shapovalov all have the potential, however, only two have made it to a grand slam semi-final; they might not be able to stop Novak become the greatest. Novak is entering the twilight of his career, but with players like Federer still able to play great tennis at the age of 37, Novak could still play another five years at the top and become the greatest male tennis player of all time. He can overtake Federer for grand slams and claim all four slams at the same time—again. He just need to keep playing with the confidence and form he showed when destroying Nadal in the final of the Australian Open in 2019.

Novak Djokovic, 2019 Australian Open Champion

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