Why Novak Djokovic will do the Golden Slam

Björn Borg and McEnroe. Agassi and Sampras. Federer and Nadal

When its comes to Novak Djokovic, he has no equal. There was a time when Djoker, as he is fondly called, played second fiddle to Roger Federer. There was a time when Rafael Nadal reigned over him. A time when Federer and Nadal were the men to be. That era is over. How the tables have turned! The ‘Djoker’ has made his legacy.

The surface doesn’t matter, the opponent doesn’t matter, the arena doesn’t matter. Here you have a player who towers over his peers. Week in week out he brings his A game. We are in the age of the Djoker. One might argue that it is complemented by the decline of Nadal, the age factor of Federer and so forth. Nadal is the undisputed King of Clay. He championed over Federer at Wimbledon. He was the nemesis for the Swiss Superman. But his game has alarmingly slid down due to injuries. Federer was the numero uno and darling (still is) for years. Only the French Open stood in his quest to claim it all. But he overcame that and completed a career Grand Slam. However, he has not defeated Nadal at Roland Garros. Djokovic did that last year en route to the final, where Stanislas Wawrinka played the match of his life. The Serb banished the failure by overcoming Federer at Wimbledon and the US Open. At Flushing Meadows, he was heckled by the crowd throughout the final. Roger Federer played some of his most sublime tennis ever. SABR (Sneak Attack by Roger) was trending. It wasn’t enough to topple Djokovic, who went on to finish the year as No 1. The fourth time in five years.

Right now Novak Djokovic is the man. He is the Prince of Tennis. The level of his game leaves us in awe. The methodical demolishing of Federer in the semis and Murray in the finals at Melbourne shows that. His closest challenger is Federer. The Swiss is not showing any signs of his age. In fact his tennis is as good as ever. But how long will Roger be able to keep up this intensity? Andy Murray’s both grand slam titles have at the expense of Djokovic. The last was at Wimbledon 2013. Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic are some of the next generation of stars. But the pack falls well short of Djokovic.

Djokovic is in the prime of his life. His game at its peak. He is almost unchallenged. Djokovic will move into Roland Garros as the favourite. If he keeps up his level of game, he will surely grab the career grand slam at the French Open. If Djokovic can overcome that hurdle, we might just have the opportunity to witness a rarest of rare achievement. The summer Olympics in Rio will give Djokovic the chance to grab the Gold. There is every chance we can see a Golden Grand Slam (Australian, French, Wimbledon, US Open + Olympic Gold in a calendar year) The only person in history to do that was the great Steffi Graf in 1988. True there is a long way to go till the season concludes. Djokovic will fill the heat of pressure. What happened to Serena at last year’s US open is the classic example. But Novak Djokovic has always come up as the underdog. His childhood days in the war torn Serbia has molded him to be a fighter.

I have always felt that the Australian Open is the most demanding on the tennis circuit. As a player it is the greatest challenge. The physical demands in the blistering heat of Melbourne has broken down many. To win a record six titles is phenomenal. A feat never achieved in the Open Era. Winning the French Open will give him the Career Slam, but he has the opportunity to go for even more. Novak Djokovic has the chance to grab it all.

Advantage, Djokovic!