NOVAK ĐOKOVIĆ
ROGER FEDERER
RAFAEL NADAL
TROJKA U BROJKAMA / TRIO IN NUMBERS
are only Jimmy Connors, with 286 weeks, and Roger Federer with 310. If there is no change on the throne, Đoković could reach his 311 th week by 5 th October, breaking the record of his Swiss rival and setting a mis- sion impossible for all future players. Furthermore, when it comes to Nole’s successes, only three players who have at some point been ranked in the top 10 po- sitions on the ATP list can boast of having a positive head-to-head record against the Serb - Andy Roddick (4-5), Marat Sa n (0- 2) and Fernando Gonzales (1-2). Yet, all of those defeats occurred up until 2010, in the early days of Novak’s career. Đoković has 26 wins and 23 losses against Feder- er, and leads 29-23 against Rafa. Many re- member those two match points that Đok- ović saved against Federer in 2019, during the longest Wimbledon nal of all time, which lasted four hours and 57 minutes. To add to that, such epic matches remain in the memory the longest, and as a rule they are won by the Serb. He is also the greatest “clutch” player in tennis (scoring points when badly needed). And that ap- plies to a G.O.A.T. He also has the great advantage of pos- sessing the so-called “Golden Masters”, as the only tennis player in history to win lit- erally all major tournaments (in order to achieve this Federer lacks trophies in Mon- te Carlo and Rome, while Rafa needs titles in Miami, Shanghai and Paris). So – G.O.A.T. In the jersey of Serbia he won the ATP Cup and the Davis Cup, leaving only the Holy Grail of tennis – Olympic Gold. Testi- fying to the importance of this is the fact that Novak has cried three times in his career – twice as a result of defeat at the Olympics. May those tears turn gold this August... And until then, let’s give Novak time to convert the unbelievers, break the remaining records and forever close the G.O.A.T. discussion.
UKUPNO TROFEJA TOTAL TROPHIES, TITLES
GREND SLEM GRAND SLAMS
BROJ ODIGRANIH TURNIRA ZA TITULU NUMBER OF TITLE TOURNAMENTS PLAYED , , , BROJ NEDELJA NA . MESTU ATP LISTE NUMBER OF WEEKS TOPPING ATP LIST
MASTERI MASTERS
ZAVRŠNI TURNIR U LONDONU ATP FINALS IN LONDON
I n order to dub someone as worthy of the American term G.O.A.T., it is essential that the players who vied against him are in agreement, as well as the subse- quent generations for whom he is a role model, leading experts, and the entire gen- eral public. Thus, such a title is not awarded, but rather represents a widespread opin- ion along with already impressive achieve- ments. And Novak Đoković lacks so little to become synonymous with tennis, at least to the extent that Michael Jordan is for bas- ketball, Tiger Woods for golf, Usain Bolt for athletics or Michael Phelps for swimming. In tennis this is re ected through the following records: number of total major tournaments won (Grand Slams, Masters and nals tournaments); number of Grand Slam titles as a stand-alone category, num- ber of weeks at the top of the ATP list and performances against greatest rivals. When it comes to the total number of major tournaments, Đoković has amassed as many as 56 major trophies (17 Grand Slam titles, 34 Masters 1000 Tournaments and six Finals Masters). His direct compet- itors – Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal –
have two fewer titles each. However, this is where things get more interesting, as there is still one major task ahead for Novak. In order to become the best ever, it is neces- sary to win the same number (or more!) Grand Slam titles. Đoković lacks three grand slams to draw level with Federer, while Ra- fa has a total of 19. The third parameter in the race to be the G.O.A.T. of tennis is the number of weeks spent holding the number one spot. Đok- ović became the planet’s number one play- er once again after his recent victory in Mel- bourne and at that moment he’d recorded his 276 th week as world No. 1. Ahead of him
Ako ne bude promena na tronu, Đoković bi već 5. oktobra mogao da stigne do 311. nedelje na tronu i potuče rekord Švajcarca If there is no change on the throne, Đoković could reach his 311 th week by 5 th October, breaking the record of his Swiss rival
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