US Open 2021: Djokovic goes in as the favourite | Economic Times

Last September, after his serve was broken in the fourth round match at the US Open, Novak Djokovic swiped in anger at a ball. It hit a line umpire. She fell to the ground, clutching her throat. Djokovic was defaulted from the US Open. It was the first time in the season he had not won a match he had played. The world No. 1 was the overwhelming favourite at the tournament. Had he won, he would already have 21 major titles -- the most by any man in the history of the game.As it turned out, Djokovic racked up his 20th major by defending his Wimbledon crown this July. Now he, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all have 20 major titles -- a feat unthinkable even some years ago. Why, then, is there so little talk of Djokovic being the GOAT -- Greatest Of All Time?It is not just the 20 majors. Djokovic is the only men’s player to have won every major at least twice, a testimony to his mastery of all surfaces. He has won two different majors (Wimbledon and Australian Open) at least six times. He is the only person to have beaten Nadal -- winner of 13 French Open titles -- at the semifinal of Roland Garros. Having eclipsed in March Federer’s record of the most consecutive weeks as world No. 1 (237), Djokovic, as of today, starts his 336th week on the trot at the top of the rankings. (Steffi Graff holds the record at 377 weeks.) Federer used to be the king on grass. Nadal is the king on clay. Djokovic is the king.And he seems to be getting better.At 34, he has lost neither his speed nor his athleticism. He has widened his repertoire to include the volley and a wicked drop shot. As his coach Goran Ivaniševic pointed out, his serve has actually improved. It is now a fearsome weapon.He always was the best returner of serve in his generation, perhaps ever. Hence, there is a lot of talk about Djokovic’s defence. How he is like a wall, how anything you throw at him keeps coming back. All of which is true. But there isn’t enough talk about his attack. The angles he works, the whiplash forehand down the line that finds the corner, the cunning volleys, the manner in which he draws his opponent to the net to send the passing shot whizzing past.There is no discernible weakness in Djokovic’s game. He is the most complete tennis player of all time. By the time he is done, he may well also be the one who stayed at the pinnacle of his sport the longest.Federer has been raging against the dying of the light for years. Nowadays, it is not just that the light seems a faint flicker; even the rage is muted. Nadal, for as long as he plays, will be a potent force at Paris. He won the US Open as recently as in 2019 and 2017. But his last triumph at Wimbledon was in 2010, and at the Australian Open in 2009. Djokovic, on the other hand, is primed to extend his all-surface dominance at the majors.Forget his contemporaries. He has shown he is more than capable of dealing with the younger challengers. Only this year, he has beaten 25-year-old Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final, 23-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas in the French Open final, and 25-year-old Matteo Berrettini in the Wimbledon final.The US Open starts tomorrow. After a blip at the Olympics, Djokovic goes in as the favourite. If he wins it, he will have 21 major titles, more than any male tennis player. More importantly, he would have won the Grand Slam -- a sweep of all the majors in a single calendar year -- something no man has done in his era. The last to do so was Rod Laver in 1969. It was a time of white balls, white clothes and wooden rackets.But regardless of how he fares at the US Open, it is time to talk about Djokovic in terms of the GOAT. He deserves no less.