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Novak Djokovic has usually acknowledged that he was compelled to dig deeper and turn out to be the most effective model of the participant he might be due to the enduring three-man rivalry that tennis witnessed for over a decade. However, at 36, he’s pulling away right into a league of his personal.
Djokovic’s twenty fourth Grand Slam title on the 2023 US Open put him on par with Margaret Court docket (she gained a share of her 24 titles within the novice period) within the checklist of all-time Main winners. The subsequent greatest are Rafael Nadal (22) and Roger Federer (20), the 2 who propelled the boundaries of tennis with their duels earlier than Djokovic unexpectedly joined them — beginning sluggish, gaining floor, drawing stage, charging forward, after which pulling away. Even when the 2018 season started with Djokovic on 12 Slams, the game’s statistical biggest of all time (GOAT) narrative was a two-way race between the Swiss Federer and the Spaniard Nadal. However two seasons later, the Serb had astonishingly began knocking on the door of Membership 20.
Final yr, Federer halted his Slam run. Nadal is now quick approaching the tip of the highway. And Djokovic, already previous them, is elevating the bar to an unattainable stage. Djokovic says he thrives on motivation, and when he doesn’t discover it in one thing — chasing the No 1 rating or the very best Slam rely — he can change off. A surprising defeat to 20-year-old Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz within the Wimbledon remaining in July appears to have reawakened him. A generational duel for the ages, it was the passing of the baton, they stated in London. Hand it again to me, Djokovic replied in New York: I’m not accomplished but.
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