27 wins, 1 defeat: Novak Djokovic - a few numbers about the grandiose Grand Slam year
In the last print, Novak Djokovic failed to do what all the greats in tennis have failed to do since Rod Laver: winning all four Grand Slam tournaments within one calendar year. The 2021 season was still extraordinary.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Sep 13, 2021, 09:15 am

27 match wins in a calendar year usually give tennis professionals a solid place in the top 30 of the ATP charts, depending on the distribution of these successes across the tournaments played. 27 match victories at the Grand Slam events, for which a place has been reserved in the history books of tennis. But not in the very first chapter - Novak Djokovic should have won the final of the US Open against Daniil Medvedev for that. Three major titles and a final, that is still an extraterrestrial achievement. We have a couple of numbers on that.
Tie-break balance: 7: 8
There was a time, around 2019, when Novak Djokovic seemed to be able to decide every tiebreak at will. Ask Roger Federer, who lost three in the Wimbledon final that year. All the more astonishing that Nole left a lot behind on the way to the Grand Slam. Lorenzo Musetti (both in Roland Garros) and Matteo Berrettini (one in Paris, one in Wimbledon) have won two. In Australia Djokovic had to break into the tie-break at least once against Frances Tiafoe (- / +), Talyor Fritz (+), Milos Raonic (+) and Alexander Zverev (- / +), in Paris also against Rafael Nadal (+), in Wimbledon against Denis Kudla (+) and Denis Shapovalov (+). in New York finally against Holger Rune (-) and Kei Nishikori (-).
Balance against top ten players: 9: 1
Yes, in Grand Slam tournaments there can be less difficult hurdles in the early rounds, meetings with players from the top ten are only possible for the number one in the world from the quarter-finals. And then Novak Djokovic was fully there: In Melbourne and New York against Alexander Zverev, in Roland Garros against Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas , and then of course three times in a row against Matteo Berrettini. It was still enough to win against Medvedev at the Australian Open - not at the end of the major season.
Balance of the five-set matches: 4: 0
First there was the game against Taylor Fritz in Australia, which we will talk about later. Then the matches in Paris against Musetti and in the final against Tsitsipas. And finally at the US Open in the semifinals against Alexander Zverev.
Danger moments: a maximum of three
Which matches could Novak Djokovic actually have lost before the US Open?
Perhaps the aforementioned against Taylor Fritz, when the abdominal muscle reported in an unfavorable manner. The quarter-finals against Zverev had the potential to surprise. After all, it might have been exciting if Rafael Nadal had won the third set in Roland Garros' semi-finals. But otherwise? Wimbledon was almost a walk in the park, and in the end no one in New York came close to beating the world's number one. Until the final. Then (too) much came together: Djokovic's tension and a brilliant match by Novak Djokovic.
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