So far, Novak Djokovic’s aces have tested the next generation of tennis stars

You have to go back to the 1960s to find a comparison of Novak Djokovic’s accomplishments in 2021.

In the ’60s, tennis tried to figure out the cleanest way to go when tournaments were split into professional and amateur events (and“ enthusiasts ”certainly seemed to make pretty good money to account for their“ expenses ”and finally decided to open all events to professionals from 1968. So the“ open era ”of tennis began. “.

Rod Laver dominates both sides of the Open Age dividing line. He reached the finals in ten of the twelve Grand Slam tournaments from 1960 to 1962 and won six. He took all four of them in 1962, and then moved on to dominate the professionals, winning seven of the 15 largest pro sides over the next five years. Once again eligible to play Slams since 1968, he won Wimbledon that year and then won all four again in 1969.

Since Laver knocks down his colleague Aussie Tony Roche in four installments to win the 1969 US Open and his second full-year Grand Slam, no one had won even the first three slams of a given year until Djokovic took over Wimbledon on Sunday. Only Bjorn Borg (1978-80), Mats Wilander (1988), Jim Courier (1992) and Djokovic (2016, 2021) had managed to win the first two. Even in this era of dominant oligarchy – Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have together won the last 60 72 Slam titles – we are currently in unknown waters.

Djokovic is in the third major round of his prestigious career. He won four of five Slams in 2011-12 and six of eight in 2014-16, and he is now in eight of 12, returning to a 2018 Wimbledon victory. If he wins the US Open, he will be the first player after Laver to win all four in a calendar year. If he decides to play in the Olympics and also wins it, he will take the first men’s Golden Slam.

YOU CAN DO quite a strong case that Djokovic is the surest thing in men’s sports at the moment. You can also that the next generation, however, will catch him.

Denis Shapovalov tried to curb his emotions as he walked off the field following a 7-6, 7-5, 7-5 loss to Djokovic on Friday in the Wimbledon semi-finals. It was his seventh defeat for Djokovic in seven trials, but this seemed disappointing because, as he told the media after the match, “I felt like the game existed and it’s possible to go play for the trophy. It’s a feeling I’ve never had before, so therefore it just happened so much. I felt like I was playing Novakia in a partial match. If you play Novakia, you can beat anyone. “

Sure enough, he has shown clear progress to Serbian No. 1. Shapovalov won only 40% of the points in his first four meetings, all in 2019. He started broadcasting Djokovic in their first meeting, the 2019 Australian Open, but he won an average of only 2.7 games in the other nine. in the series.

However, in its three meetings since the beginning of 2020, the 22-year-old Canadian has won 47% of the points. He took a second set from Djokovic in their 2020 ATP Cup semi-final battle, and all of their last six sets have reached at least five. Problem: Djokovic won all six sets, four in a 7-5 situation and two in a nice tiebreaker win. The first two sets were particularly even, but Djokovic won nine of the 11 total points. Both fought the improved Shapovalov return game and stole the break opportunities after receiving them.

It’s a familiar problem to the most proven young stars in tennis. In the bigger stages, no one can close a trade.

French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, 22, had won 44% of the points against Djokovic in 2019 and before the break in 2020, and has won 47% since Djokovic was twice in five series at the French Open. But he lost both in the fifth series.

US Open finalist Alexander Zverev, 24, won 44% of the points against Djokovic in four meetings in 2018-19, and then improved to 48% after three meetings. But he has only taken one of seven sets from Djokovic at the Grand Slam.

Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, 25, has played Djokovic three times and won 34% of his points in the first battle to 45% in the second and 48% in the third. He won the first set on Sunday, but Djokovic split the next three.

Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev, 25, has actually won three of his last five matches against Djokovic, but while he has taken 49% of the points in all his matches, he has won only 46% and one of seven sets in two Grand Slam battles.

Together with seventh-placed Andrey Rublev, who has by no means ever played Djokovic, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Zverev, Berrettini and Shapovalov form the next wave of tennis. They are all 22-25 years old and all are in the current ATP-top 10.

They are also 0-10 against Djokovic in Slams.

If you strangle, you can see the progress. In addition to Medvedev – who, on the other hand, has had relatively little success against Djokovic – the other four players did better in his second Slam meeting than in the first. Shapovalov won 43% of the points in the 2019 Australian Open second round and 47% in the 2021 Wimbledon semis, Zverev won 43% in the 2019 French Open semifinals and 48% in the 2021 Australian Open quarter, etc.

In a sport with even the smallest margins, where losing 40% of your points means you win in an explosion and lose another 45%, but assure a win, a change of up to two percentage points can reverse fate. After winning 56% of the points against these players in 2019, Djokovic has won only 53% since then. But in the biggest points and the biggest matches, he has maintained the advantage.

THE NEXT STEP for the next generation may be the most difficult. “In important moments, I think I kept my nerves better than he and only you [sic] he’s playing an extra shot, making him make a flawless mistake, ”Djokovic told the media after defeating Shapovalov.

“The more matches you play and the more often you’re in situations like this,” he continued, “the more confident or comfortable you feel [the] the next time you encounter these special circumstances “

The first time he played Federeria Slam, Djokovic was a rising 19-year-old. It was the 2007 Australian Open, a tournament Djokovic won a record nine times. Federer won the straight series. They would meet again about seven months later in the finals of the US Open. Djokovic was now seed No. 3. Federer won again in the straight series, but two of them went to the tiebreakers.

Over the next five years, Djokovic won six of his ten Slam meetings between them. Since the beginning of 2013, he has won all six.

It was the same story against Nadal. The Spaniard won 14 of his first 18 meetings in 2006-2009, including all four in the Slams. Djokovic won three in a row in 2009, but Nadal remained in the top five, taking the 2010 US Open final in four innings.

In 2011–2013, however, Djokovic won 16 of his 10 battles, three of six in the Slams. Since the beginning of 2014, he is 13-6 against Nadal, 4-2 in Slams. The size of Nadal’s clay field made him victories at Roland Garros in 2014 and 2020, but Djokovic has swept the others (including two victories in Paris).

Message: It takes time. The biggest of the sport are too well developed, too far in a mental game to weaken in the eyes of a hot, young rising and newcomer, and you have to learn about losing before you can beat them when it counts for the most part. No one knows it better than Djokovic.

“[Federer and Nadal] helped me understand what I need to do to develop, get stronger – mentally, physically, tactically, “he said in court in an interview after winning Wimbledon.” When I bumped into the top ten for the first time I lost most of the big matches I played against these two guys for three, four years, and something changed, in late 2010, early 2011, and the last 10 years [have] been an amazing trip. “

Four of the top ten 25-year-olds have now made it to the Slam final, and a fifth (Shapovalov) enjoyed the semi-finals at Wimbledon. Rublev has won three of the last five finals, losing each time to a younger youth (Medvedev twice, Tsitsipas once). They’re hunting for packs, and they’re as close to a breakthrough as Djokovic is in pulling Laver.

Djokovic may be in the form of his life, but the margin of error decreases and decreases.