Comparing eras is a difficult task. Steffi Graf spent 377 weeks on top of the scaffold in the 80’s and 90’s. A record that not only demonstrated the dominance of the 22-time Grand Slam winner, but also seemed untouchable for a long time. Incidentally, Graf finished her career at the age of 30 as the world’s third-ranked.
On the other hand, the German icon’s competition at the time consisted of only four players as her biggest rival, Monica Seles, got a knife in the back from a crazed fan. Novak Djokovic has had to take on two of the strongest players of all time in his career, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, and he’s far from the end of his rope.
Do not forget that the 35-year-old Serbian missed a large part of the season last year (and therefore the Australian Open and the US Open) due to his anti-vaccination principles, otherwise he would have already offered more than 22 Grand Slam titles today. He should share that record with Nadal for now.
Roland Garros is watched with bated breath, as the two may quarrel with each other. “Preferably in the final,” Djokovic laughed during a news conference in Belgrade last week. He has a positive balance in his duels with Nadal (30-29) and Federer (27-23). More numbers that support his sovereignty.
Everyone won
Thus, Djokovic won 22 Grand Slam titles, including the Australian Open ten times. This is also a record. It is part of a total of 93 titles. He still has some work to do if he wants to overtake Federer (103) and Jimmy Connors (109), but nothing is impossible for the six-time Masters winner. Djokovic showed this by placing no fewer than 38 ATP 1000 tournaments (the most after Grand Slams) on his palm. He is the only player who can win all major tournaments at least twice.
It has earned him over €156 million in prize money and a fanatical following. This fan club, which boasts around ten million followers on each of its social media channels, goes a long way in its appeal that Djokovic be seen as the greatest tennis player of all time. In this debate, his sometimes unusual opinions or actions are accounted for. In the struggle for the love of the audience, he still has to lose to the Spanish and Swiss saints. Djokovic will do everything he can to bend this criterion in his favor, so that not only numbers matter.
