LONDON. – It is almost two years since Novak Djokovic left Roger Federer crestfallen by edging a momentous Wimbledon final but as the tournament prepares to return after last year’s cancellation, the men’s game remains in the Serb’s stranglehold.
Since that epic five-set victory, in which he saved two match points and won the first fifth-set tiebreak in a Wimbledon final, Djokovic has claimed three of the next six majors with Rafa Nadal bagging two and Dominic Thiem one.
It would likely have been four for Djokovic had he not been defaulted from last year’s US Open– allowing Thiem to sneak in and finally add a new name to the Grand Slam winners’ club which has been ruled by Roger Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal for over 15 years.
That proved a mere bump in the road for Djokovic, however, and he will arrive at Wimbledon bidding for a sixth title to match Federer and Nadal’s men’s Grand Slam record haul of 20.
Should he triumph, he would also be three quarters of the way to completing the first men’s calendar-year Slam since Rod Laver scooped up all four in 1969.
Nadal will not be playing at Wimbledon, having decided to rest, while eight-time champion Federer is showing signs that, at 39, the window of opportunity to win one more Slam is closing.
Federer, who underwent two knee operations last year and has played only four tournaments since the 2020 Australian Open, was not his usual self last week at the Halle grass court tournament he has won 10 times, succumbing rather meekly in the end to young Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Writing off his chances would be foolhardy, but the main threats to Djokovic might come from a young brigade gradually edging closer to shaking up the status quo in men’s tennis.
“Is his level high enough to compete? Not at the end of matches but from the first point?
That’s the question mark that I think only he knows the answer to until we see him play,” seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander said of Federer’s competitiveness ahead of Wimbledon.
Djokovic looked supreme at times in Paris as he claimed his second French Open title– but there were also dips.
He lost the opening two sets against Italian youngster Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round, dismantled Nadal in a breathtaking semifinal, but again found himself two sets in arrears in the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas. — Reuters
