Exclusive: Greg Rusedski makes a bold Novak Djokovic prediction ahead of 2019 season
Greg Rusedski believes Novak Djokovic should be viewed as firm favourite to win all four Grand Slam titles in 2019, after his dominant second half of this season confirmed his status as the undisputed world number one.
Wins at Wimbledon and the US Open have highlighted Djokovic’s sensational return to his best form, with former world number four Rusedski exclusively telling tennis365.com that the Serbian has moved into a league of his own as he backs him to dominate the ATP Tour next year.
“I think it’s a fair statement to suggest Novak is favourite for all four Grand Slams next year,“ Rusedski told us. “The other players will be starting their pre-season programmes now and they need to do something special to get near Djokovic because he is playing tennis that none of them can touch.
“He has separated himself from the pack and while Rafael Nadal is the one who will feel he can stop him when he gets onto the clay courts at the French Open, it is hard to see Novak getting beaten if he continues to play as he has been in the second half of this season.
Rusedski went on to suggest Djokovic could shatter all the significant records in the game in the coming years, with a fading Roger Federer and a injury prone Rafael Nadal struggling to keep pace with the standards being set by the king of the court.
“The aura is back for Djokovic,” he adds. “It feels like the period when he had all four majors and the rest of the tour look at him and question how he can be beaten.
“He has set the bar so high. You look at the serve that has been so good this week, the ground shots are so accurate and you struggle to find holes in his game.
“I feel 2019 will be very important for him. If we wins the calendar Grand Slam, he will be up to 18 majors and while I would probably expect him to win three of the four, there is every chance for him to get to Federer’s 20 Grand Slams and go well past that. If he continues to play as he is right now, it is hard to see anyone stopping him.
“That said, strange things can happen in this sport. When we saw Novak winning the French Open and completing the Grand Slam set in 2016, we all felt he was on his way to complete domination, but it didn’t quite happen for him after that.
“He didn’t win anything again until Wimbledon this year. So even though it’s easy to make predictions, things change and that is why we love watching this sport to see what might happen next.”
Sky Sports will show Djokovic taking on Zverev in the climax of the ATP finals in London on Sunday at 6pm.
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