By U.B. Acharya

Recently a tennis fan remarked “French Open without Nadal is like French Bakery without croissants.” Yet this grand slam event was held with all fanfare with 112 top ranking players plus eight wild card players and eight qualifiers who entered the main draw after winning three rounds of matches.

The top three seeds were Carlos Alcaraz Garfia, Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic. The remaining important seeds were Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Yannik Jenner, Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune.

As per the luck of the draw, third seed Djokovic had to meet the top seed Alcaraz in the semi-finals. Both reached quarter-finals without dropping a set but in the quarter-finals Djokovic dropped a set against Karen Khachanov while Alcaraz steam rolled Tsitsipas in straight sets.

The semi-final between the 20-year-old top seed and 36-year-old third seed was touted as the match of the tournament and Alcaraz was the book makers choice. While the first two sets were keenly contested and shared between the two, at the beginning of third set, top seed developed cramps and Djokovic ran through the next two sets.

In the bottom half, Medvedev lost in the first round making this half wide open. Eventually Ruud (a two-time Major runners-up) reached the finals. The final was well contested but the experience and mental strength of Djokovic was too much for Ruud to handle and he lost in straight sets. Thus, the Musketeers trophy was handed over to Novak Djokovic for the third time, this time by the last French man to win this trophy Yannick Noah.

With 23 Major titles under his belt, even his worst critics would have to crown Novak as the Greatest tennis player of all times. At the post-match press conference when a reporter asked whether he considers himself as the GOAT, Djokovic replied “Thank you; it would be an insult to past great champions. Each era is different with different playing conditions. I am grateful that I am in that mix.”

It should be noted that while the title of GOAT is a subjective one depending on who bestows this title, one’s record is there all to see. When an athlete who held multiple world records was asked whether his record would ever be beaten, he replied: “Most certainly. But who ever beats my record will be a dead tired man!” Novak Djokovic could possibly say the same thing.

For the record, let me list his main achievements:

1.         He has won 23 Major (frequently referred to as Grand Slam) titles, more than any other male player. Also, he has won each of the four Majors at least three times.

2.         He has won the prestigious year-ending ATP finals title six times which is same as another player. Since that player has retired, Djokovic has an opportunity to overtake this record.

3.         He has more Masters 1000 titles than any other player.

4.         Many experts believe that sum total of the above three titles should be the main criteria for deciding who should be the GOAT. If that be the case, Djokovic has 67 while the next best player has 58.

5.         He has higher win-loss percentage than any other player.

6.         He has won all the four Majors, the year-ending ATP Finals and all nine Masters 1000 titles twice and no other player has achieved this.

7.         While Roger Federer won 15 Major titles in the first decade of this century, Djokovic matched this number in the second decade. His achievement is more significant because he had to battle against two other great players.

8.         In January 2011, while Federer had won 16 Major titles and Rafael Nadal nine, Djokovic had just won one. In the next 12 years he won an incredible 22 Major titles.

9.         While he does not have a Calendar Grand Slam (all four Major titles in the same year), he has an Individual Grand Slam (all four Major titles won continuously not in the same calendar year).

10.       He has a better head-to-head record against both his nearest rivals.

11.       Finally, he is playing with the same intensity at 36 years of age as in mid-twenties. This is mainly because of his very strict Vegan diet, his self-belief and deep breathing exercise plus meditation which in India is termed as Yoga.