Federico Kotlar
02/02/2020 - 12:10
- Clarín.com
- sports
In the world of tennis, he sends among many specialists a belief for which they do not admit discussion: Roger Federer is, and will be, the best tennis player of the times. They rely not only on their game of excellence but also on their results: the Swiss is, at least for now, the biggest Grand Slams winner in history. Of course, that could never be the only parameter, and another number marks its enormous validity over time: it is the one who for the longest time has remained as number 1 in the world ranking, no less than 310 weeks (237 of them consecutive, between 2004 and 2008). That tremendous brand, which might seem unattainable, is threatened by a huge competitor who can no longer be ignored in the discussion about who is the greatest of all time.
From this Monday, Novak Djokovic will return to the list of the ATP the place that naturally belongs to him since he finished exploding in 2011: the best of all. So far there are 275 weeks who showed it at the top and the record will grow again. There are 35 then those that separate him from the brand that, even more than his 17 Grand Slam titles (three less than Roger, two less than Rafael Nadal), ends by recording its enormous validity.
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Nole is an eternal underestimated. Of the members of Big 3, if a vote were taken, it would surely be the least elected as the largest. As young 32 years old, he seems to pay the "sin" of having emerged in tennis later than Federer (38) and Nadal (33), another colossus. Also perhaps because his game gives less spectacular than the magic shots of Roger or the power of the Spanish, the Serbian is strangely not given the rightful place in history. The price also, perhaps, of arousing fewer passions than Federer and Rafa .
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To both of them, Djokovic overcomes them in hand-to-hand duels. Roger won 27 of the 50 clashes between them, the last one in the semifinals of this Australia and in straight sets. Five of the last six games between the two (and ten of the last thirteen) remained in the hands of the Serbian. Before Nadal, it is from 29 to 26 the advantage of Nole , who also won ten of the last thirteen clashes. In that period, the Spaniard could only beat him in brick dust, and to see his last win on another surface you have to go back to the final of the 2013 US Open: outside the clay in which Nadal is master and lord, Djokovic won him nothing less than the last ten games between them.
It was up to Djokovic to also be the king of the least glamorous of the four Grand Slams. For reasons of tradition that have been imposed since many players skipped it on their calendar because of the inconvenience of the date and the trip to Oceania, the Melbourne tournament is historically a step behind the United States Open and further still from the majesty of Roland Garros - Rafa's house, with 12 titles - and Wimbledon - Roger's paradise, with eight coronations. In the tournament that almost all players now reach 100% for being at the beginning of the season, the biggest is Djokovic, who is 8-0 in both semifinals and finals in Australia.
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Like Nadal and Federer, Nole was champion of the four Grand Slams: to his eight Australia we must add five Wimbledon, three US Open and a Roland Garros (where he is also with Robin Soderling one of the only two players who could beat him Spanish). Unlike Nadal, he also won the Masters and did it five times. He is also the only one of all time who managed to raise the cup in all 1000 Masters.
Although it will be impossible to end the discussions, which are part of the sport and of life - and more than one will remember that Rod Laver managed to win the four Grand Slam titles in the same year -, Djokovic started 2020 as to take more advantages to his contemporaries in a fight between colossi: that of being the greatest of all time.