Novak Djokovic in a row with Andre Agassi and Ilie Nastase
With his triumph at the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year in Paris-Bercy, Novak Djokovic achieved something that only Ilie Nastase and Andre Agassi have achieved before him.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Nov 07, 2021, 09:11 pm
Not that Novak Djokovic would be bored with another Sunshine Double in the coming year. Winning the Indian Wells and Miami titles within a year is still one of the most difficult exercises in tennis. But Djokovic has now already mastered four times - in 2011 and then from 2014 in the two following years. But the titles in Roland Garros and Paris-Bercy in the same calendar year? Even the best player in the world was not granted that until yesterday's triumph in the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
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After his final victory after 0: 2 set deficit against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the beginning of June on the Bois de Boulogne, Djokovic fixed the Paris double with the success against Daniil Medvedev. So far, only two players before him had succeeded: Ilie Nastase in 1973 and Andre Agassi in 1999. Why has only this trio been able to score a double strike so far? While the Sunshine Double is great, but not as rare as the one in Paris?
Nadal in Paris-Bercy without a title
On the one hand, Indian Wells and Miami traditionally (with the exception of 2021) play immediately one after the other. Anyone who traveled to the Californian desert in good shape could also raise legitimate hopes in Miami (since 2019) and before that in Key Biscayne. However, there are almost five months between the second major of the year and Paris-Bercy. Apart from that, the ashes on the Philippe-Chatrier court and the conditions in the Bercy hall are not exactly the same.
Another reason why the 13-time Roland Garros champion, Rafael Nadal , has not yet found an entry in the Paris-Bercy winners list. In fact, the Spanish matador made it into the final in the hall only once - and in 2007 David Nalbandian bid him a rather unfriendly goodbye.
But Ilie Nastase and Andre Agassi still have one thing ahead of the great Novak Djokovic: The finals in 1973 against Stan Smith and in 1999 against Marat Safin were both played in the best-of-five format. There is no doubt, however, that industry leader Djokovic would have overcome this hurdle on Sunday.
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