When he’s in form, it feels like a Novak Djokovic win is inevitable. He might be the best returner of serve the sport has ever seen, and his defense is impenetrable. His serve has become a genuine threat, and his backhand is elite as well. He has no weaknesses to attack, and he forces you to play outside yourself. Worse, if you actually manage to take a set or two from him, he seems to settle down and raise his game by about 5000%.
On Sunday, Djokovic won his fourth straight Wimbledon crown and his 21st overall Slam title, taking down Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in four sets. He remains one career Slam behind Rafael Nadal, due largely to his decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 — a decision that forced him out of this year’s Australian Open and might keep him out of the next two Slams, too. Despite this, he’s still one of only two men to win more than 20 Slams; as we did when Nadal won No. 21 in January, let’s take a look back and rank Djokovic’s grand wins.
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21. 2018 US Open
Result: def. Juan Martin del Potro (6-3, 7-6, 6-3)
Still on his rise back to the top following an elbow injury, Djokovic was the No. 6 seed in this tournament and dropped sets in each of his first two matches. But by his third-round meeting with Richard Gasquet, he was in full gear. He won the last 16 sets of the tournament, and only one even went to 5-all. In the final, del Potro did very little wrong, but Djokovic took advantage of rare break opportunities, won eight of the match’s 13 break points and won six of the last seven points of the second-set tiebreaker. Quality: high. Drama: minimal.
20. 2021 Australian Open
Result: def. Daniil Medvedev (7-5, 6-2, 6-2)
Medvedev would turn the tables in the fall’s US Open, but first he had to learn a few more lessons. Djokovic spent much of the tournament looking as vulnerable as he had the previous fall, when he lost four times in an eight-match span. He dropped sets in four straight matches and blew a two-set lead against Taylor Fritz before winning in five. But he drubbed Aslan Karatsev in the semis, weathered a back-and-forth first set against Medvedev, then broke early in each of the next two to cruise.
19-18. 2016 Australian Open and 2011 Australian Open
Result: def. Andy Murray (6-1, 7-5, 7-6) and def. Murray (6-4, 6-2, 6-3)
Murray landed plenty of shots against Djokovic through the years, going a solid 8-11 against him in finals matches and beating…
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