Djokovic States Intention Of Breaking Federer's Grand Slam Record
30th December 2018
The 31-year-old Serb is currently six majors behind the Swiss and three adrift of Rafael Nadal
- Novak Djokovic admitted he'd be "lying" if overhauling Roger Federer's mark of 20 Grand Slam titles was not on his mind but insisted Saturday it will be a great challenge to get there
- Djokovic has lost just three times in the last six months, but all three defeats came against players aged 22 and under (Stefanos Tsitsipas in Toronto, Karen Khachanov in Paris, and Alexander Zverev in London at the World Tour Finals)
- Djokovic now heads to the Qatar Open in Doha next week where he faces Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in the opening round
ABU DHABI, United
Arab Emirates- Novak Djokovic admitted he'd be "lying" if
overhauling Roger Federer's mark of 20 Grand Slam titles was not on his mind
but insisted Saturday it will be a great challenge to get there, especially
with the sport's widely-hyped young generation stepping up.
Djokovic, who sent out an early warning ahead of the
official kick-off of his 2019 season with a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Kevin
Anderson to win the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi on
Saturday, took his Grand Slam tally to 14 by picking up the Wimbledon and US
Open titles within the span of the last five months.
The 31-year-old Serb is currently six majors behind Federer
and three adrift of Rafael Nadal, but is likely to keep up the pressure on his
rivals this upcoming season considering how he recaptured his dominating form
in the second half of 2018.
Asked if there is a record he dreams of capturing before the
end of his career, Djokovic said: "I would lie if I say I didn't want to
get to as high as Grand Slam wins number possible. That's definitely the
objective, the desire, the goal.
"Those are probably the tournaments where I want to do
my best for the rest of my career, however long that's going to be, and of
course trying to also fight for No. 1 with everyone else."
Djokovic has lost just three times in the last six months,
but all three defeats came against players aged 22 and under (Stefanos
Tsitsipas in Toronto, Karen Khachanov in Paris, and Alexander Zverev in London
at the World Tour Finals).
Family man
On Thursday, the world number one conceded that "the
face of tennis is changing" due to the influx of new young talent and he
believes the 'Next Gen' will make it harder for him to stay on top.
"There's a new generation of players, Nadal and Federer
are still there, (Andy) Murray and (Stan) Wawrinka are coming back, Zverev is
the leader of this Next Gen
"Men's tennis is as good as it can be in terms of
competition, in terms of personalities, it's good to see new faces," he
said after his fourth title victory on Saturday in the UAE capital.
"For me it's going to be a big challenge and a big ask
to stay at such a high level, it's very demanding especially as a family man.
It's different in the last couple of years. But I like challenge in life,
because from the challenges we grow and we learn. So I try to embrace whatever
is in front of me, I have to accept it but I'm working for the best."
Djokovic now heads to the Qatar Open in Doha next week where
he faces Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in the opening round.
Later in January, he will begin his bid to win a seventh
Australian Open title.