Novak Djokovic’s father, Srdjan, believes that his son will go down as the greatest of all time in tennis. He confirmed that the Serbian will not be bowing out soon until he breaks all the remaining records.
“He will be the greatest player ever, and he will not stop playing tennis.,” he told Blic. So far, so good for Djokovic, who finished the year at position 2 in the ATP world rankings this year. However, he lost the number one spot to Rafael Nadal, a position the Serbian held for the better part of 2019.
Novak Djokovic is third in most Grand Slam titles won with 16. He is behind Nadal and Federer, who have won 19 and 20 Grand Slams respectively. He also takes pride in winning 9 Masters 1000 events,7 Australian titles, and playing 31 consecutive matches without suffering any defeat.
The 32-year-old is still hopeful of matching or even exceeding Federer’s record of spending many weeks at the top of the rankings. Currently, he is ranked at number 3 with 275 weeks behind Pete Sampras and Federer who spent 286 weeks and 310 weeks at number one respectively
Djokovic struggling to become fans’ favorite
Despite Novak Djokovic establishing himself among the best tennis players, he still faces a lot of criticism and bad treatment from fans. He does not receive sufficient credit that a player of his stature deserves.
Most of the unfortunate treatment from fans has been evident while playing Roger Federer, a tennis player who enjoys a large following. The Wimbledon Final and ATP Finals group match are two instances where he struggled to win the affection of fans. Despite pulling off some exceptional performances, most fans were not convinced at all to support him.
However, his father has always offered him support. He continues to criticize the cruel treatment directed to his son.
The unending tennis GOAT discussion
The debate on who is the GOAT in tennis never seem to be ending anytime soon. The conversation has stirred a very serious discussion among tennis enthusiasts. There is yet to be a standard basis on which the all-time best tennis player can be determined. Some people think that the Greatest All-Time tennis player should be defined on who has won the Grandest Slam Titles. Nevertheless, a significant number of individuals insist there is nothing like a GOAT due to the ever-changing generations in tennis.
Novak Djokovic’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.2, Novak played his last match on the 14th of November when he lost to Roger Federer 6-4 6-3 in the R in London.
This year the Serbian has a 54-11 win-loss record. The Serbian clinched 5 titles in 2019 at the Australian Open, in Madrid, in Wimbledon, in Tokyo and in Paris. Djokovic was the finalist in Rome.
Nadal in London, ranking, and results in 2019
Currently the world no.1, Nadal has a 52-7 win-loss record in 2019. Rafael is currently competing in London where he ousted Daniil Medvedev 6-73 6-3 7-64 and Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-74 6-4 7-5.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played each other 54 times. The head to head is 28-26 for Djokovic.
The last time that they squared off, Rafael Nadal won 6-0 4-6 6-1 in the final in Rome on the 19th May 2019.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal |
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