These 4 Novak Djokovic Records May Never Be Broken By Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal

Novak Djokovic remained the top-ranked singles player after the ATP tour was suspended for six weeks due to the outbreak of the pandemic coronavirus. He is on the top ahead of Rafael Nadal, Austria’s Dominic Thiem and Roger Federer.

Djokovic is counted among the greatest tennis players in the history of the sport. He has earned a special place in tennis because he has dominated the sport in its toughest era already consisting of giants such as Federer and Nadal.

In fact, he has dominated the duo like nobody and it is not surprising that the Serbian has a better head-to-head record against the other two members of the Big Three. The majority of Djokovic’s major wins have come by defeating these two en route and that is a very unique achievement. Moreover, Djokovic has won more by defeating more highly-ranked players on an average than Federer and Nadal.

Djokovic, so far, has clinched 17 Grand Slam singles titles and is only behind Nadal’s 19 and Federer’s 20. Keeping in mind his ruthless performances in recent times at the major events, many believe that the World No. 1 will overtake his arch-rivals in the list of most number of Grand Slams.

While the Serbian has made and broken several records in the last few years, here is a list of four records that may never be broken by Federer and Nadal:

Winning a Grand Slam in three different decades

When Djokovic defeated Thiem to lift the Australian Open trophy in Melbourne in February, he became the first-ever player to have won a Grand Slam in three different decades. The 32-year-old claimed his maiden Grand Slam in 2008 when he won the Australian Open. He then won 15 more titles between 2010 and 2019 before he clinched his 17th major trophy in Melbourne earlier this year, which was his first Grand Slam of the new decade.

Reaching the finals of each Grand Slam 3 successive times

In the Open Era, reaching the final of a Grand Slam itself is a tough task, forget winning it. But, Djokovic is the only player to have reached the final of each Grand Slam three consecutive times. The Australian Open has been nothing short of being like Djokovic’s home turf. His three consecutive finals in Melbourne came in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and he won them all, having defeated Andy Murray, Nadal and Murray again.

Djokovic’s three successive finals at the Rolland Garros came between 2014 and 2016, where he lost to Nadal and Stan Wawrinka before finally lifting the French Open trophy by defeating Murray in 2016 final. With that victory, Djokovic had completed his career slam. The Serbian’s three consecutive US Open finals happened in 2011, 2012 and 2013, where he won in 2011 before losing the next two finals to Murray and Nadal respectively.

Most trophies at the Australian Open

No player has won as many Australian Open titles as Djokovic, who recently lifted his eighth singles trophy Down Under. His previous wins came in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. After Djokovic, the next players on the list are Federer and Roy Emerson, each having won the title six times.

Holding all the 4 Grand Slams on 3 different surfaces at once

Even though Djokovic has not achieved the calendar slam yet, he has a unique record to his name. By winning the Rolland Garros in 2016, he was then the holder of all the four Grand Slams. Yes, Rod Laver had held all the Grand Slams together at once because he had clinched the calendar slam. But, during that time Australian Open was still played on grass like the Wimbledon. So, that makes Djokovic the only player to have held all the four Grand Slam on three different surfaces.