World Number One Djokovic Puts Federer On Notice For Record Grand Slams
3rd February 2020
The five-set victory over Dominic Thiem was his eighth in eight finals in Melbourne, putting him alongside Federer and Nadal as the only men to win the same Slam eight times
- Novak Djokovic put Roger Federer on notice as he won his 17th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and warned he was going all-out for the Swiss's record of 20
- Djokovic, who came through a mid-match slump to win his eighth title in Melbourne, is relentlessly totting up the victories that could soon end the debate over who's the greatest in history
- It makes Djokovic, 32, the first man in the Open era, and only the second in history, to win Grand Slam titles in three different decades -- and as a not-insignificant bonus, returns him to world number one
MELBOURNE, Australia-
Novak Djokovic put Roger Federer on notice as he won his 17th Grand Slam title
at the Australian Open and warned he was going all-out for the Swiss's record
of 20 -- and his mark for weeks as world number one.
Djokovic, who came through a mid-match slump to win his
eighth title in Melbourne, is relentlessly totting up the victories that could
soon end the debate over who's the greatest in history.
The five-set victory over Dominic Thiem was his eighth in
eight finals in Melbourne, putting him alongside Federer and Nadal as the only
men to win the same Slam eight times.
It makes Djokovic, 32, the first man in the Open era, and
only the second in history, to win Grand Slam titles in three different decades
-- and as a not-insignificant bonus, returns him to world number one.
In an ominous sign for his rivals, the Serb has started the
year unbeaten with Wimbledon, the French Open, the Tokyo Olympics and the US
Open all lying in front of him as tantalising opportunities.
He is clear-sighted about his goals: overtaking Nadal's 19
Major titles and Federer's 20 to become the all-time Grand Slam king, and
outdoing the Swiss master's record 310 weeks in the top ranking.
Djokovic has so far clocked up 276 weeks as number one and
could pass second-placed Pete Sampras's 286 in April, and Federer's 310 on
October 5.
"Obviously at this stage of my career, Grand Slams are
the ones I value the most. They are the ones I prioritise," said Djokovic,
adding "there's a lot of history on the line".
"Grand Slams are one of the main reasons why I am still
competing and still playing full season, trying to obviously get the historic
number one (record). That's the other big goal," he said.
- 'Huge win' -
With five Major titles in just over two years, and unbeaten
by Nadal and Federer at the Grand Slams since 2014, there's no question who's
now the leading member of the Big Three.
The latest rankings tell the story at the top of men's
tennis: Djokovic is number one, Nadal, one year older at 33, is second and
38-year-old Federer is a relatively distant third.
Seven-time Major winner Mats Wilander said Djokovic's win in
Melbourne sets a marker for a year in which he could sweep all before him.
"At the end of the year, we could have two players on
20 or two on 19 or even more because Novak can win all four," he said.
"This is a huge win for him going forwards. A loss here
would have been very difficult to get confidence and come back.
"But the door is open for him to start climbing through
it and talk about being the greatest ever."
As he jets out of Melbourne, his name etched yet again on
the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, Djokovic warned that his confidence and
expectations were soaring.
"I'm super-happy with the way I started the season. It
kind of sets the tone for the rest of the year," he said.
"To start off the season with a Grand Slam win
significantly boosts your confidence and your expectations are quite high for
the rest of the season.
"But whatever happens, this season is already
successful."