“What is it that you are still doing here?” After Novak Djokovic won his historic 24th Grand Slam title, Daniil Medvedev made light conversation with the Serbian champion.
The Russian asked the question with a curious tone, “I don’t know, when are you planning to slow down a little bit?”
It is a valid point to bring up.
The 36-year-old Djokovic won the match against Medvedev in straight sets on Sunday, putting him in a tie for the all-time record of 24 major singles titles held by Margaret Court. This victory places him at the very peak of his sport.
And it seemed like it meant more than anything that had come before it. Djokovic was overcome with emotion as the significance of his accomplishment began to sink in, just prior to the beginning of the festivities with his family and the other members of his squad.
After the event, his trainer Goran Ivanisevic remarked that this was “one of the greatest achievements in the history of sport.” “This is not a conversation about tennis. We are discussing sports in a more generic sense.”
In addition to this, he stated, “If he wins 25, he’s going to think ‘why not 26?'” It’s never just one more thing; there’s always another.
“He’s taking care of his body, he’s taking care of everything, and each and every detail has to be perfect,” said his girlfriend.
Djokovic defeats Medvedev to win his 24th major championship.
As it transpired, Djokovic prevailed over Medvedev.
Even though he was playing during the best era that men’s tennis has ever seen, the Serb, who is unrivaled in the Open era (since tennis becoming professional in 1968), has still managed to achieve such astounding heights. This is perhaps the most remarkable aspect of his career.
In the ongoing competition for supremacy, which began when Swiss great Roger Federer resigned with 20 victories, a 24th Grand Slam title allowed him to extend his advantage over rival Rafael Nadal to two titles.
However, while Rafael Nadal of Spain has stated that he would retire at the conclusion of the 2024 season, there are no indications that Novak Djokovic’s amazing career will come to an end anytime soon.
Djokovic remarked, “I don’t put any number right now in my mind on how many Slams I want to win,” and he meant it.
“Knowing that I play at such a high level still and that I win the biggest tournaments, I don’t want to leave this sport if I’m still at the top,” he said. “I play at such a high level still and I win the biggest tournaments.”
Djokovic admits that the weight of history contributed to an underperformance when, in 2021, he was on the brink of a remarkable calendar Grand Slam, but he fell to Medvedev in the US Open final and missed out on winning all four major titles in the same year. Djokovic gets his US Open revenge to match Court Djokovic confessed that the weight of history contributed to an underperformance.
Two months after Carlos Alcaraz denied him a 24th title at Wimbledon in an exciting five-set final, he would not let his latest opportunity pass him by and he did not let it pass him by either.
Although the prospect of matching Rod Laver’s record of winning all four majors in the same year is certainly something he will be thinking about after losing just one match in Grand Slam competition in 2023, the chance of winning all four majors in a single year was not at stake in this match.
Nevertheless, winning a 24th major was the most meaningful prize of his great career to that point in time.
The only player in tennis history to have won 24 titles is Australian Court, who accomplished this feat during the time that tennis was transitioning from an amateur to a professional sport.
While Djokovic has won his Grand Slams during the Open era, most of Court’s titles — 13 to be exact — were won before 1968. This contrasts with Djokovic’s accomplishments. Up until that moment, the Grand Slams were only open to amateurs, while the top players instead competed in private tournaments for the chance to win prize money.
It was a reason that Serena Williams alluded to when she spoke about coming agonizingly short of Court’s score when she quit last year. Williams spoke about this when she announced that she was retiring from professional tennis.
“In my opinion, [Djokovic] is the best tennis player of all time.” David Law, a pundit for BBC Radio 5 Live, posed the question, “How can you argue with these numbers?”
“He’s got the same number as Court, and let’s be honest here: they were registered at a period when tennis was a different sport. He’s got the same number as Court. At the time of the Australian Open, many of them were at the tournament when there was a relatively low number of competitors.
“He has been forced to go after Federer and Nadal and compete against them at times when they have been at the top of their game. He was required to go after them despite the fact that he was not nearly as well received by the throng.
Court earned her first Grand Slam title in the singles competition at the Australian Open in 1960, where she went on to win a total of 11 times before winning her final Grand Slam title in New York in 1973.
In a same vein, since he won his very first Grand Slam in Melbourne in 2008, Novak Djokovic has gone on to win a record-breaking 10 men’s singles titles in the city.
His second most successful tournament is Wimbledon, where he is only one title short of Federer’s men’s record eight victories at that particular competition.
Djokovic has not been able to equal one of the accomplishments that was accomplished by Court, and that is the elusive calendar Slam.
Court is one of only five persons to have ever won a calendar Grand Slam, which means he won all four majors in the same year. This accomplishment was accomplished in 1970. Rod Laver and Don Budge are the only two guys who have ever accomplished this feat.
“Superhuman” Djokovic “not stopping soon,” according to reports.
It is now Djokovic’s fourth season of his career, and he has won three Grand Slam titles in each of those seasons. He has become the first man to accomplish that feat on as many occasions.
With each new victory, the records keep falling, and the total number of people involved keeps growing more staggering.
Djokovic won his record-extending 36th Grand Slam final against Medvedev, and he also tied Bill Tilden’s record by winning his record-tying 10th US Open final. This victory brought Djokovic’s total number of Grand Slam titles to 36, one more than Tilden’s total.
He is the oldest man to win at Flushing Meadows in the Open era, beating the previous record holder, Ken Rosewall, who was 35 years old when he won in 1970.
In total, he holds the position of being the fourth-oldest Grand Slam champion ever. At the US Open that takes place the year after this one, he will have reached the age required to surpass Rosewall’s record.
And with the 96th career win of his overall career, he closed the gap between himself, Roger Federer (103), and Jimmy Connors (109), who hold the record for the most titles won by male players in the Open era.
On BBC Radio 5 Live, a former player from the United Kingdom named Annabel Croft stated, “I don’t think he’s going to stop any time soon.” Why would he do that? It was very close to becoming the ideal season.
“Tonight, all of us were witnesses to something quite remarkable. We were there when he tied Margaret Court for the most titles with 24. It has been a long journey for him, but he has now arrived at his destination. He has superhuman abilities, don’t you think?
Djokovic will regain his position as the number one player in the world on Monday. He will replace Alcaraz, a 20-year-old Spaniard who was eliminated in the semi-finals by Medvedev. Alcaraz is the player who appears to provide the greatest challenge to Djokovic’s pursuit of an all-time record 25th major title.
Next week will be the Serbian’s 390th consecutive week at the top of the men’s game, making him the player with the most weeks spent at number one in the history of the ATP ranking (which began in 1973).
Djokovic advised, “You need to reinvent yourself because everyone else does” (because everyone else does). Because I am 36 years old and competing with people who are only 20 years old, I probably have to do it more than I ever have before.
The winner of the US Open a record-setting four times went on to say, “It’s a constant, evolving process of me trying to implement certain things that will give me an edge over the young guns.”
It is challenging to conceptualize what he might have accomplished in a different time period.
Since Wimbledon in 2003, Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer have won a combined total of 66 of the 81 Grand Slam titles that have been up for grabs during that time span.
This accounts for more over 81% of the available titles, with only 15 Grand Slams being won by other players in the past 20 years.
Now, when Djokovic returns to his preferred Grand Slam event in January, he will have the intention of expanding that proportion by an even greater amount.
Djokovic remarked that “to make history in this sport is something truly remarkable and special,” and he emphasized the importance of this accomplishment.
“I never in a million years thought I’d be sitting here talking about the 24 Slams. I never in a million years would have predicted that would be the truth. But for the past few years I’ve had the sense that I had a chance, a shot at history, and why not seize the opportunity if it’s provided to you?
