Incredible Novak Djokovic statistic that highlights his remarkable dominance
Novak Djokovic was handed a desperate start to 2022, but the way he has bounced back from his horror story has cemented his status as the game’s all-time great.
The Serbian maestro was caught up in an international incident as he was refused entry into Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open over his refusal to accept a Covid-19 vaccine.
When he was then heavily beaten by Rafael Nadal at the French Open, the cynics suggested Djokovic’s days of winning Grand Slam titles were over.
Yet his record since that stinging defeat at Roland Garros makes for remarkable reading, as he has played 35 matches in major tournaments and won 34 of them.
A victory at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships got him back on track, but he was then denied entry to America to play at the US Open later that year over his Covic vaccine status.
With the global pandemic easing in 2023, Djokovic went on a winning rampage that included victories at the Australian Open, French Open and the US Open, with Carlos Alcaraz the only player to beat the world No 1 in a Grand Slam match this year as he won a five-threat thrilling in the Wimbledon final.
Djokovic has won seven of the last 10 major tournaments he has played and came up just that Wimbledon final defeat to Alcaraz short of a first calendar Slam of his career.
That extends his record to 65 wins and three defeats since the start of 2021. He missed last season’s Australian and US Opens due to his Covid vaccination status but has otherwise been in a class of his own in the last three years.
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He won 2021’s first three Slams and reached the final in New York, only for Daniil Medvedev to deny him a calendar year Grand Slam – making this year the second time he has gone within one match.
Perennial French Open champion Rafael Nadal defeated him in last year’s quarter-final in Paris, since when he has won four out of five slams and reached the final of the other.
In his career as a whole, Djokovic has won 88 per cent of his Grand Slam matches, 361 of 409, and one-third of the major tournaments he has entered with 24 of 72.
He is now two clear of Nadal for the most Grand Slam titles by a male player and moves ahead of Serena Williams for all players in the Open era. Court’s 24 wins were split almost equally between 13 in the amateur era and 11 in the Open era.
Djokovic enjoys a stunning record at all four Grand Slams, as the only man to win each on at least three occasions and one of only three to hold the four titles simultaneously.
He has not matched the calendar Slam feat achieved by American Don Budge in 1938 and Australian great Rod Laver in both 1962 and 1969, but did win Wimbledon and the US Open in 2015 before adding 2016’s Australian and French Opens.
Melbourne is where Djokovic has bulked up his Grand Slam total with an astonishing 10 wins, the third-most of any player at a single Slam after Nadal’s 14 French Opens and Court’s 11 titles in Australia – only four of which came in the Open era.
Djokovic has won Wimbledon on seven occasions and the French three times.
