Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic compete for the greatest season of them all
Who has pieced together the best season in modern tennis history?
It is a question that has no definitive answer, but two outstanding performers pieced together runs of consistency that ensures they will stand out in the history books as being close to perfection.
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have both enjoyed periods of dominance that have been hard to match, with the two legends of the game setting records that may never be matched.
Djokovic will end his career with better statistics as he has claimed 12 Grand Slam titles in the last five years, capitalising on a period when Federer was at the end of his career and their rival Rafael Nadal has struggled with injuries.
Yet when they were both at the peak of their powers, their dominance was truly remarkable.
Federer claimed his first Grand Slam title in 2003 when he won the Wimbledon title for the first time and by 2005, he was virtually unbeatable at the king of the men’s game.
The Swiss maestro won the Wimbledon title and backed that up by winning the US Open in 2005, with his 81-4 record giving him a remarkable win rate of 95.29%.
Federer won 11 titles that year, including victories at the Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati Masters.
He also added titles in Qatar, Rotterdam, Dubai, Hamburg, Halle and at the Thailand Open in an all-conquering year.
Federer’s only defeats in 2005 came against Marat Safin at the Australian Open, Richard Gasquet at the Monte Carlos Masters, Rafael Nadal at the French Open and an epic defeat against Argentina’s David Nalbandian in the ATP Finals in China.
Djokovic has enjoyed some dominant years of his own in recent times, with his three Grand Slam titles in 2023 confirming this is another remarkable year for the Serbian.
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His record for 2023 stands are 46–5, giving him a 90.2% win rate.
Djokovic also won three majors in the 2021 season and headed into the US Open on course to complete a calendar Grand Slam.
A defeat against Daniil Medvedev in the final of that event cost him a chance to achieve the ultimate goal in tennis, but his 55–7 winning record was still a remarkable testament to his consistency and dominance.
Yet Djokovic was arguably at his very best in 2011, when he had a more youthful body and his hunger was burning brightly as he set out on his mission to match the achievements of Federer and Nadal.
Djokovic won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open in that dominant year, as he pieced together a staggering 70–6 winning record that gave him a 92.1% win percentage.
That record is even more impressive when you consider two of his defeats came due to retirements due to injury and he also lost two matches in the end-of-season ATP Finals, when fatigue was a factor.
Djokovic was unbeaten that year until the French Open semi-finals, when he lost to an inspired Federer in Paris, with his ATP Finals defeats against David Ferrer and Janko Tipsarevic coming at a time when the excesses of the season had caught up with the champion.
He retired in matches against Andy Murray in Cincinnati and against Juan Marin del Porto in a Davis Cup match and if you look at his record without those two setbacks and remove his ATP finals losses that came after the end of the regular season, his record would read 70-3 in match completed.
For that reason, Djokovic’s 2011 may be the greatest of them all in an era of brilliance from the game’s modern champions, but there is no doubt the Serbian will want more next year.
He will want to complete a calendar Grand Slam before his career comes to an end and given his dominance of the sport over the last year, he could aim for that ultimate achievement in 2024.
