Since the start of the Open Era, only four players have had at least 80 wins in one major tournament, and no one seems ready to join them in the next few years.
Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Jimmy Connors and Novak Djokovic are the members of this exclusive group, as the Spaniard leads with 105 wins at Roland Garros. Roger Federer is the only player to have at least 100 wins in two Grand Slam tournaments, followed by Connors who has 98 wins at the US Open and 84 wins at Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic joined the party in February at the Australian Open, lifting his ninth trophy at Melbourne Park and celebrating the opening tournaments of the 82nd season.
In Paris a few days ago, Novak won his 19th major title, bringing close to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and becoming the third player in the Open Era to score at least 80 wins in one major tournament, after Connors and Federer.
Novak arrived in Paris determined to pursue a second title at Roland Garros, although the task was not easy after defeating Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals.
In the round of 16, the Serbian young Italian Lorenzo Mussetti led two sets to zero before starting from zero in the third and leaving his opponent very late to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Novak then had to face Italian Matteo Berrettini, and beat him in close four after three and a half hours of playing to prepare for the match with Rafael Nadal. In the 58th encounter since Roland Garros, 15 years ago, Djokovic took his second Roland Garros win against Nadal, winning 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2 after more than four hours to find himself in sixth place. Final in Paris.
Rafa made a perfect start, but then lost ground, wasting a set point in the third set with nothing left in the tank in the fourth set to test his third defeat in Paris and propelled Novak to an 80th win at Roland Garros.
Misha Zverev opens up about Novak Djokovic
Mats Wellander and Misha Zverev met at Eurosport to discuss Novak Djokovic’s claycourt move. Zverev likened Djokovic to a “supercomputer” because of the way he predicts opponents’ strikes.
Meanwhile, Wellander was amazed that the Serb doesn’t get injured often given the way he throws himself on the field. Well, I mean, looking at the way he (Novak Djokovic) is moving, I’m amazed he wouldn’t get any more hurt,” Wellander said.
“But Misha, I have to ask you this: Novak is moving on hard ground, he has to expect a little more on hard ground because he will always slip, but somehow he seems to be able to handle Brittini’s serve pace and his forehands.
Is it because he has such a good reading of the game that he can achieve everything, even on clay? “A few years ago, I spoke to Fabrice Santoro and he said to me: ‘Yes, you want to be a good defender, don’t you? Don’t look at the ball, or look at the opponent, or look at where he is, look at the rotation of his body and his shoulders,’ said Zverev. He’ll tell you where he’s going to play.”
“I have a feeling that maybe Novak is doing the same, he’s not just looking at the ball, he’s looking at the position of Berrettini (or any other player). It’s like math,” Zverev added.
“What percentage will the court pass from it, what percentage will it come down from, and then collect all these facts and all this information. It’s like a supercomputer — it can predict it quickly. And just go in the right direction very early.”
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