PARIS — For quite some time, Novak Djokovic has made his long-term goal clear: He wanted to focus on accumulating Grand Slam titles to surpass the totals of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
With the French Open set to start Sunday without either Nadal (who is injured) or Federer (who is retired) for the first time since 1998, Djokovic finally gets the chance to lead the career standings alone with a men’s-record 23. If he winds up with the championship in two weeks, Djokovic would break a tie with Nadal and have three more trophies than Federer.
“It’s no secret that one of the main reasons I play today and compete in professional tennis is to try to break more records and make more history in tennis,” Djokovic said Saturday. “That’s extremely motivating and inspiring for me.”
Djokovic’s current collection of 22 majors — two at Roland Garros, in 2016 and 2021; three at the US Open; seven at Wimbledon and 10 at the Australian Open, including this January — means he owns 16 more than the other 127 men in the bracket in Paris combined. Stan Wawrinka won three, while Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Dominic Thiem have one apiece.
“Grand Slams are a different tournament, a different sport in a way, because you’re playing best-of-five [sets], you are playing in the most important tournaments in the world,” said Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, “and the experience is on my side.”
It’s why when other players are asked who enters as the favorite in Nadal’s absence, they often mention two names: Alcaraz, who is ranked No. 1 and is 20-2 with a tour-high three titles on red clay in 2023, and Djokovic, who is 5-3 this season on the surface used at the French Open.
Why point to Djokovic?
“Because Novak has won so many times,” said Casper Ruud, the runner-up to Nadal at Roland Garros and to Alcaraz at the US Open last year. “This year’s clay season has been maybe not what he expected, but I’m sure he has good confidence in myself.”
Djokovic, for his part, pronounced the 20-year-old Alcaraz as “the biggest favorite,” citing “the last few months, and the kind of shape and the form that he’s having — and that I’m having.”
Ranked No. 3, Djokovic could meet Alcaraz in the semifinals.
Djokovic, who has a chance to become the only man in tennis history with at least three titles from each major, also mentioned several other contenders, including Ruud, Medvedev, Holger Rune, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Jannik…
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