After three previous losses in French Open finals, all with the career Grand Slam on the line, Novak Djokovic finally got over the hump by beating Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday afternoon. Djokovic now owns 12 career major titles and currently holds all four.
The world No. 1 is just the third man to hold all four at the same time, joining Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969). He is also the eighth man in history to complete the career slam. Additionally, Djokovic moved into a tie for fourth on the all-time major titles list with Roy Emerson at 12. Only Roger Federer (17), Pete Sampras (14), and Rafael Nadal (14) have more.
Highlights:
Djokovic press conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YKQXQtWzfQ
Murray press conference:
Djokovic: “I entered the court quite prepared. I started well first game, and then I dropped four games. You know, nerves kicked in. I needed a little bit of time to really find the right rhythm and start to play the way I intended, which happened in the beginning of the second and practically till 5-2 in the fourth set. It was flawless tennis. I really felt like I played on a high quality and putting a lot of pressure on Andy’s serves and just trying to hang in there.
“[On] the last point, I don’t even remember what happened. It was really one of those things–moments where you just try to be there…. Yeah, a thrilling moment; one of the most beautiful I have had in my career.”
Murray: “He did play extremely well; gave me very few errors (and) started hitting the ball a bit close to the lines. I was sort of dropping a bit far back behind the baseline. Against him, obviously if you’re letting the best players control points, that’s tough. I wasn’t able to dictate enough points after the beginning of the match, and made it tough.
“What Novak achieved today is something extremely special,” Murray explained, “and a lot of people would have wanted to have seen that and been a part of that. He deserves the support he gets.”
Damn it Thiem, you should have won this!
?
2 more slams to catch up with sampras and that clay courter.
^ joe troller lol
So Djoko is ‘that hard courter’ then, having majority of his slams on the HCs? He only has 1 FO and 3 Wimbledon; whilst Rafa has 3 HC slams and 2 Wimbledon.
Let’s see whether Djoko can catch up with Sampras, Rafa and Fed then, sometimes its so near yet so far!
“Only” 3 Wimbledons? And Federer only won 1 French also, so…
Well done to Djoko!
The greater challenge now is winning the channel slam and then the calendar slam.
Note that Djoko has not won the channel slam while doing the four in a row. To me, winning the channel slam and then the remaining 2 to make it 4 in a row is a little bit tougher than winning Wimbledon first then followed by the remaining three slams in a row, as one has to do it within a shorter time span (esp FO and 2 weeks later Wimbledon); and that’s why winning the calendar slam is the toughest of all, as winning the three slams – FO,Wimbledon and USO – has to be done within 3-4 months.
If he does win the channel slam next month though he will have won five in a row arguably more difficult than winning a calendar grand slam and accomplishing what no male player has achieved in the open era.
The channel slam, like the career grand slam, is secondary to what it would mean to win Wimbledon and win 5 in a row. That would be ridiculous.
Didnt get it? Winning the channel slam is difficult because of the change of surface within a short time. The test now is for Djoko to win the channel slam if he wants to win 5 in a row.
Dont insult my intelligence! Who doesnt know how to count? Its not about just getting no.5 but how difficult it is getting the no.5!
Hawkeye really doesnt get it!
Mikkers really gets it.
Well the change of surface is not a problem for him. He was playing really well in 2011 RG but Fed played arguably his best match there and defeated him . He won Wimbledon that year. In 2014 he was good on clay but Rafa was just Rafa… he won Wimbledon that year. Last year it was Stan.
So, change of surface hasn’t affected his level of play much. It is just that you need either Rafa or a player on-fire to beat him. It always happened happened in the past but now needs to happen at Wimbledon. Rafa has not been factor at Wimby for 3-4 years but this time Rafa is not even going to be there , I think.
May be if he gets Kyrgios in rnd 3 or rnd 4 or may be Zverev… and then Stan in the Qtr final, Fed in the semi and Muzz in the final . LOL
I think change of surface is a hyped up concept in today’s game, or at least since Wimbledon was made bouncier + today’s racquets and strings. The changes are quite minimal, unlike say in the 90s when clay court specialists would boycott Wimbledon because it was too difficult for them to adjust.
I agree with VR, Djokovic played 3 great French Opens whenever he won Wimbledon, its just he was stopped once by a Federer in full flow in a close encounter, once by Wawrinka in the form of his life, and once by Nadal – which is what has happened to everyone.
To me the question is about his mental state. Will he rest on his laurels, or is he hungry? Is the effort and motivation required too much to win Wimbledon? We don’t know, but I’m guessing he will dig deep to try and win it. Records like this can only be pursued once a lifetime usually.
Having said that, I think Novak has another problem in the form of Murray if they have to play in the Wimbledon final, provided they get that far. On grass, I’d back him to beat anyone but Andy.
I don’t see any indication of Nole resting on his laurels anytime soon.
He is out there to be the best of all time.
What’s more impressive?
Calendar slam or five in a row.
#Rhetorical
Yes, I think a Djoko-Murray final would be very, very interesting in that Djoko has never beaten Murray on grass but Djoko is the defending champion. It would also be a hostile crowd for Djoko. That would be a match I’d want to watch.
agreed
See, its always somebody stopping him at either the FO or at Wimbledon, and that’s precisely why its just so difficult to win both back to back! If not, he would have already won the channel slam five or six years ago.
Somebody talked as if Djoko has already won 5 in a row! Until he wins five in a row, I would say a calendar slam is really tough to achieve.
Also, I dont believe I had said anything about Djoko’s 4 in a row not being unbelievable achievement; I said no argument there that its no mean feat!
What WOULD be more impressive in Lucky’s opinion?
Calendar slam or five in a row.
(Kyrgios minds want to know.)
I agree with Hawkeye that he won’t rest on his laurels. He wants to be the best ever!
@Luckystar, RG has been the tougher one for him and he has it now. It will give him added confidence and he loves being the favourite. Cilic pushed him to 5 in 2014 but never quite looked in a position where he would end up winning that match to be honest. There was a feeling Novak will prevail. The match against ANDERSON was the real deal though. He really looked like he could exit!
It is clear that he is more vulnerabe in the earlier rounds and that’s also the case with everyone. Facing a risky player like Zverev or esp Kyrgios could be risky. Kyrgios has that attitude! he can do it if his game clicks on the day and Novak is a sloppy.
The other way is to have a tough draw and get drained by the time of the final and that is what happened in 2013. Andy was better but it wouldn’t have been a straight set win may be.
Vajda mentioned the benefit a soft draw gave them in RG …he said that it helped Novak being ready for the final and once he found his form he had what it took.
Rafa has been a non factor since 2011…he almost made it in 2014 but that was such a bummer.
Had Rafa done well at RG ,I would have given him a decent change of making a good run. This time , even if he participates, won’t make a big difference I guess.
VR, whether Rafa is there at Wimbledon is of no relevance because Rafa is a non factor there ever since 2011!
Its not like Djoko wasnt beaten at Wimbledon, when Fed did it in 2012 and Murray in 2013. Djoko almost lost to Anderson last year, and Cilic took him to five sets in 2014 so its not like he hasnt shown any vulnerablity there.
Hawkeye, isnt that simple? Winning five in a row would mean one has to win FO and Wimbledon back to back (just like one has to do during a calendar slam), so of course 5>4 (I thought I mentioned in my earlier post that 4>3, 5>4…..?).
Yes, it should be quite simple.
So you agree that if Nole wins Wimbledon for five in a row, it is more impressive than winning a calendar slam.
We are on the same page if that is the case.
Yeap, but that’s IF. How about winning six in a row then? Calendar slam as well!
Nah, its hawkeye who doesnt get it! Winning 4 in a row> 3; winning 5> 4 and winning 6>5. Winning 7> 6. Winning 7 in a row guarantees at least one calendar slam (winning 6 may or may not but in Djoko’s case yes if he gets 6).
Winning four in a row is a great feat
No argument!
Pat gets it.
Refer to my comment at 4.39am. Dont always say others dont get it, you are the one not getting what others said!
Please read more carefully.
Hawkeye, I never disagree about that in the first place!
I was comparing winning 4 vs 4! As I said winning all four, esp FO and Wimbledon being so close, within the same year, and also winning on the three surfaces – clay, grass, HC, from FO to USO – within four months, is something rarely being done. Its just like winning AO, FO and Wimbledon, since Laver, no one has done that.
I don’t see the two being all that different especially considering that the difference between clay and grass isn’t quite what it used to be (particularly in the second week).
Regardless, the difference will be a moot point if Nole wins Wimbledon as we agree that five in a row would trump all.
Peace Lucky.
If he continues like this, Djoko could well end up being the all time great… in terms of results anyway.
Federer won the channel slam in 2009, Rafa did it twice in 2008, and 2010, Rafa also won GS on 3 different surfaces in 2010, and also won a singles Olympic gold in 2008 on HCs, but Novaks 4 in a row is something only 3 players in history have done, amazing to think what these players have achieved historically ….
Also, remember that three of the four slams Laver won were played on Grass…not many people realize this!! He never won on hard courts, let alone win on different types of hard courts!
The difference in clay and grass is not as big today but it is still a CONSIDERABLE difference. At least Nadal has had to make loads of adjustments to win Wimbledon as compared to the French… can elaborate if anyone does not agree. The movement is also very different but hawkeye also has a point that the difference is reduced in the second week of Wimby. But, keep in mind that players like Muller and Petzschner and Stakhovsky come out of nowhere and start playing really well in Wimby because the surface suits their ‘style of play’. So, grass is grass and it continues to behave quite differently. Davydenko was one of the best baseliners on clay and hard but a disaster on grass…
No doubt it’s still different but Nole won RG and Wimby last 12 months.
He doesn’t have trouble making the adjustment winning wimbledon three times after going deep at the French (Two finals and one SF).
He barely even needs to play any lead up grass tournaments this year (I believe same as last) just choosing to play a couple of exho matches at Boodles where he went 2-0 last year.
yeah… I said in one of my above posts that surface change doesn’t affect him much. He is able to play his game on all surfaces.
I noticed that surface change does not seem to affect Novak. He doesn’t participate in the warmup tournaments like queens and Halle.
Novak doesn’t seem to need the kind of prep that Rafa needs before Wimbledon.
Exactly, and thats why not many excel on both. I mean other than Fed, Rafa and now Djoko, who among the current players has/have won the FO and Wimbledon? Stan won FO but not Wimbledon; Murray won Wimbledon but only managed one FO final.
I wont be surprised that the next and next next gen players will also have a hard time winning both the FO and Wimbledon.
Only Rafa and Roger won RG and W B2B though, it will be interesting to see if Novak can also do that now ….
It’s quite likely he will. Right now he’s like a skilled surfer riding the crest of an epic wave.
Right up to the last minute I was wondering if he would stumble but he peaked at precisely the right moment – for which his team deserve full credit. Personally I don’t think we saw his best tennis on Sunday but when Andy’s serve went AWOL he didn’t really have to which is a pity. Such an historic moment deserved a truly memorable duel between the two men.
A very timely video editorial on the reason for the downplaying of the Nole Slam…
Djokovic overshadowed by Federer, Nadal
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=16011483
This is good for Novak. I see him pumped for Wimbledon precisely because of this.
Pretty good. Can’t disagree with that vid clip, hawks. Nole doesn’t have the commercial appeal that Rafa and Roger have. Hope Novak is finding time to relax. His stated goals were FO and Olympics. I’d like to see Andy or someone else win Wimbledon. But won’t be surprised if Nole keeps going and going!
Avatar change – Vamos Delpo!
RC I agree, i would love to see Andy winning another W title, and for Delpo to make some statement, good win today for him, hope he has a good week, and im happy with what Rafas done as a fan he owes me nothing anymore, all gravy now ….
It is ALL GRAVY now. At least one would think so. But many are harder to please than you and me!