In 110 years of Grand Slam tennis, only American Donald Budge in 1938, and Australian Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969 have won the elusive Grand Slam of the Australian, French, Wimbledon, and US Opens in a calendar year.
So it’s 46 years since legend Laver won his second Grand Slam, when he beat Andres Gimeno 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 at the Australian, Ken Rosewall 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 at the French, John Newcombe 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 at Wimbledon, and Tony Roche 7-9, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 at the US.
Novak Djokovic’s 7-5, 6-3, 6-1, win over clay king Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros quarters has the Serb on track to break the drought.
Djokovic was successful at the Australian Open in January, downing Andy Murray 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-2, and it’s the Scot Djokovic has to beat in the French semis to reach the decider.
If their head-to-head stat is any criteria, Djokovic comfortably leads 18-8, having won the last seven.
Djokovic has enjoyed a superb season, with 40 wins and just two losses while winning five tournaments in the process – the Australian Open, Indian Wells Masters, Miami Masters, Monte Carlo Masters, and the Rome Masters.
Comprehensive.
The losses were early in the year to towering Croat Ivo Karlovic 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in the Doha quarters in January, and to Roger Federer 6-3, 7-5 in the Dubai final during February. That was before Djokovic got into the swing.
So how does Djokovic compare in 2015 with the other three most successful Slammers who have won 41 of the last 47 Slams between the quartet?
Federer (ranked 2nd): 26 wins, six losses, with three titles – Brisbane, Dubai, and Istanbul.
Murray (3): 36-5 with two titles – Munich, and Madrid Masters.
Nadal (7): 30-10, with just one title in Buenos Aires.
That’s Nadal’s worst year, and it cut deep to lose to Djokovic at Roland Garros on his 29th birthday, denying him a record 10th French Open.
Can the Spaniard return to his title and Slam winning ways? The answer is the same for Tiger Woods – never say never, but the chances are getting slimmer by the week.
There’s more chance of Novak Djokovic capturing the calendar Grand Slam.
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