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Early Monday morning (AEDT) Novak Djokovic capped off an astonishing season with an emphatic straight-sets win over longtime rival Roger Federer to take a record fourth-straight ATP World Tour Finals trophy.
With another win against tennis’ icon, Djokovic tied the head-to-head with Federer at 22 apiece to confirm that this is a rivalry for the ages, and that the Serb is fast becoming a threat to the throne.
A season that featured three grand slams, six masters 1000 titles, and the ATP rankings point record has reignited the ‘GOAT’ (greatest of all time) debate, only two years after many labelled Rafael Nadal as Federer’s heir apparent.
Players of this calibre are called ‘once in a generation’ because life usually only spits them out once a decade or so. That Djokovic has stamped his case so convincingly this year means that he has been thrown into the conversation as tennis’ ‘GOAT’ along with Federer and Nadal.
Your honest tennis fan would probably say they didn’t see this coming. I for one certainly didn’t.
Back in 2007 a young, cocky Djokovic declared before his fourth-round clash against Federer that he was there to win. Federer proceeded to give the young Serb the ‘Federer special’, which was really just the status quo, a straight-sets beat down.
Nadal was the only young gun to worry about in those days. Pretenders went as quickly as they came.
Right up until 2011 tennis was about two men, Federer and Nadal. Djokovic was grouped with Andy Murray as a talented player who lacked the physical and mental edge to dominate the game.
By the end of 2010 Djokovic’s lone grand slam, the 2008 Australian Open, was beginning to look like the highlight of his career amidst a flurry of Grand Slam retirements and inconsistent showings due to poor fitness.
Then came 2011, and by June everyone knew that he was the real deal. A 41-match win streak included multiple scalps of Federer, Nadal and Murray, and it took a zoning Federer to end the streak in the Roland Garros semi-finals.
The level was unseen before. The serve was more accurate, the forehand stung, and the fitness issues were resolved, which he largely attributed to a gluten-free diet. Half the tour avoided gluten that year given the stark contrast of fortunes from only months before.
Here was a player who seemingly had no weakness, no holes in his game. Every player has a chink in their armour – Federer’s is his backhand, Nadal’s is low and quick courts. Novak did not, does not.
His backhand, forehand, and now serve, are all truly world class, and say he is the best mover on a tennis court by a mile. He can attack off both wings and cover the court in defence on what must be a pair of adidas skates given his ability to slide on any surface.
How the bloody hell did he reach such heights?
Perhaps he owes his achievements, in part, to Federer and Nadal. When Novak was coming along and knocking on the door to slams in 2008, Federer and Nadal were tennis’ – if not sport’s – greatest rivalry of all-time.
He had to watch them play for fame and glory from the confines of his couch by the second Sunday of a slam, and he was seen more of as a nuisance than a genuine threat.
It was his baptism into this crucible of greatness that Djokovic acquired the steely desire to develop every facet of his game. Every slam he has won since then he has truly earned. He has had to play Federer, Nadal or Murray for nine of his ten grand slam titles to date. By comparison, Federer is 7/17 and Nadal 10/14.
While many are quick to already label Djokovic the GOAT after witnessing his form this season, this is – at best – a premature appointment.
I won’t argue that the level of play Djokovic has exhibited this year has been seen before. Perhaps Federer from 2006 is there abouts, but the numbers don’t lie, and this year Djokovic narrowly eclipsed Federer’s ranking points record for a 52-week cycle, and that is a cold hard fact.
Djokovic is the best player modern tennis has ever seen, but he’s not the greatest. Not by a mile.
It’s one thing to dominate the field with clinical, surgical precision like Djokovic has. To a tennis fan it is calculated, refined perfection. A synthetic blend of technique and fitness tailored to the modern game with careful shot selection.
It’s an entirely different ask to win in a manner that captures the attention of the world. And this is what separates Federer.
‘Poetry in motion’ was a term coined well before it had reference to Federer, but I doubt there is an example more apt. To say his technique and movement is silky is an understatement. He moves like water and creates shots that leave opponents, and the crowd, utterly puzzled.
He plays the brutal modern game with the style and grace of the 1960’s gentlemen. In an era of muscles, grunting and baseline thuggery, Federer’s game floats in the forecourt with deft touches and impossible angles.
It is the way Federer won that transcended the sport and captured our attention. And this is ultimately what sport must do, entertain and inspire. The tennis he produces has style, power, and genius beautifully meshed together to form a mesmerising show.
Win or lose, what he does is the greatest show in tennis, and possibly sport. And that is why he is the greatest.
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