Why Novak Djokovic became the best tennis player of all time in 2023

One of the main heroes of 2023 in world sports is Novak Djokovic. 24 Grand Slam titles, seven year-end victories, 40 Masters 1000 titles, eight seasons finished at number one in the world rankings, over 400 total weeks spent there and $180 million in career prize money. . All these record milestones achieved by the 36-year-old Serb this season make it clear that in the fight for the title of the best tennis player in the world of all time, he has surpassed all his competitors, including his closest one, the Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

The ending year in men’s tennis was marked by the dominance of Novak Djokovic. Having played only 12 tournaments that award ranking points, he achieved the highest level of efficiency – winning seven of them and achieved a large gap in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings from its competitors. Having scored 11,245 points, the Serb is ahead of his closest pursuer, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, by 2,390 points. How significant this advantage is is evidenced by the fact that Alcaraz himself, who became the first racket of the world at the end of last season, was then ahead of the second racket of the world, his compatriot Rafael Nadal, by only 800 points.

Djokovic has had more successful seasons in his career. Let’s say, in 2011 he won ten tournaments, and in 2015 – eleven, which helped him on June 6, 2016 set an absolute record for the number of points in the world classification (16,950). But this year the Serb became a leader not only in the number of victories at Grand Slam tournaments – the main indicator by which tennis greatness is usually assessed, but also in the number of victories in final tournaments, and also raised the bar for some of his other records. Thus, in the correspondence dispute for the title of the best tennis player in the world of all time, Djokovic clearly beat all his competitors.

24 Grand Slam victories

For several more years, the Swiss Roger Federer was in the lead in the men’s list of the most titled major participants, who was the first to reach the mark of 20 titles. In 2018, he was four titles ahead of Nadal and eight ahead of Djokovic. However, the Swiss’s victory at the Australian Open 2018 was his last success at the majors, competitors began to rapidly approach him, and before the start of this season, Nadal had the best record – 22 titles. Djokovic was one victory behind, caught up with the Spaniard in Australia, overtook the Spaniard in Paris, and was ahead of him at the US Open. The Serb now has 24 titles won at majors.

An important point to understand: Nadal has been nursing an iliopsoas injury since January and announced in May that next season would likely be his last. The Spaniard plans to make an attempt to return in the first week of 2024 in Brisbane. It is possible that on clay, his signature surface, Nadal will still compete for the Roland Garros champion title. But it is unlikely that he will be able to aim for more. That is, he clearly cannot catch up with Djokovic.

The Serbian, in turn, has already won ten more majors than Pete Sampras, the tennis king of the 1990s. This fact once again emphasizes the enormity of his achievements.

Djokovic, however, never managed to take the Grand Slam, which was done twice (1962, 1969) by the legendary Australian Rod Laver, and before him (1938) by the American Don Budge. But this season he became the first tennis player to win all four Grand Slam tournaments at least three times. In total, he has nine victories at the Australian Open, three at Roland Garros, seven at Wimbledon and four at the US Open.

Victories at Grand Slam tournaments

• 24 Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 2008−2023
• 22 Rafael Nadal (Spain) 2005−2022
• 20 Roger Federer (Switzerland) 2003−2018
• 14 Pete Sampras (USA) 1993−2002
• 12 Roy Emerson (Australia) 1961−1967

Seven victories at the final ATP tournaments

Djokovic set another record by achieving his seventh triumph at the Nitto ATP Finals. Having won in Turin, the Serb took the lead in this indicator, leaving Federer behind him. The 15-year difference between the Serb’s first victory in Shanghai and the current one in Turin is unique in its own way. It is significant that Nadal, who typically struggled late in the season on indoor courts, never won a final tournament. Of the active tennis players, Alexander Zverev from Germany won more than once, having done this once each in London (2018) and Turin (2021).

Victories at the final ATP tournaments

• 7 Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 2008, 2012−2015, 2022, 2023
• 6 Roger Federer (Switzerland) 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011
• 5 Ivan Lendl (Czechoslovakia/USA) 1981, 1982, 1985−1987
• 5 Pete Sampras (USA) 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999
• 4 Ilie Nastase (Romania) 1971−1973, 1975

40 victories in Masters 1000 tournaments

In 2023, Djokovic won two Masters 1000 tournaments. And the second victory, in Paris in early November, brought him an anniversary, 40th title in these competitions. At one time, Andre Agassi held the record here, but then the American was significantly surpassed by representatives of the so-called “Big Three” – Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. The Serbian is the only tennis player to win all nine Masters; moreover, he won each of them at least twice, and eight of them (that is, excluding the tournament in Monte Carlo) at least three times. For comparison, we note that four tennis players won seven different “masters”. But Federer never won in Monte Carlo and Rome, Nadal – in Shanghai and Paris, Agassi – in Monte Carlo and Hamburg, where the fourth Masters of the season was held in his time, and Andy Murray – in Indian Wells and Monte -Carlo.

Victories in Masters 1000 tournaments

• 40 Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 2007−2023
• 36 Rafael Nadal (Spain) 2005−2021
• 28 Roger Federer (Switzerland) 2002−2019
• 17 Andre Agassi (USA) 1990−2004
• 14 Andy Murray (Great Britain) 2008−2016

Eight first places in the ranking at the end of the year

Djokovic became the sole holder of the record for the number of seasons completed in first place in the world classification in 2021, when he overtook Sampras. Now he has eight “royal” seasons to his credit – the same number as the total of the two leaders of the 1980s – American John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl, who played for Czechoslovakia and the USA. This fact is logical to be considered one of the main arguments in favor of the fact that Djokovic should be considered the best tennis player of all time. In any case, Federer and Nadal are far from him here.

First place in the ranking at the end of the year

• 8 Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023
• 6 Pete Sampras (USA) 1993−1998
• 5 Jimmy Connors (USA) 1974−1978
• 5 Roger Federer (Switzerland) 2004−2007, 2009
• 5 Rafael Nadal (Spain) 2008, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019

Over 400 weeks in first place in the rankings

Having surpassed the milestone of 400 weeks in first place, Djokovic spent more time there than the total of three famous tennis players who occupy 7th, 8th and 9th places by this indicator – the legends of the 1970s and 1980s McEnroe (170 weeks) and Swede Bjorn Borg (109), as well as Agassi (101), whose career peak occurred at the end of the last decade of the last century. It is not yet obvious that the Serb will be able to improve the previous record holder Federer’s record (310) by 100 weeks and double Nadal’s record (209). But in any case, Djokovic will retain first place at least until January 28, the day when the Australian Open ends. By then, he will have been at number one for a total of 409 weeks.

Weeks in first place in the ATP rankings

• 409* Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 2011−2024
• 310 Roger Federer (Switzerland) 2004−2018
• 286 Pete Sampras (USA) 1993−2000
• 270 Ivan Lendl (Czechoslovakia/USA) 1983−1990
• 268 Jimmy Connors (USA) 1974−1983
• *As of January 28, 2024, the end date of the Australian Open.

$180 million in career prize money

In this nomination, Djokovic is also the undisputed leader. The $15.9 million he earned this year is far from the record for prize money in the ATP for a season, which was set by the Serb eight years ago and was equal to $21.1 million. Nevertheless, Djokovic’s current figure is among the top five in history. In the list of leaders in career prize money, he is significantly ahead of Nadal. Now they are separated by $46 million. Interestingly, Sampras is still in the top five there, and of the representatives of the generation who is now in his prime, Zverev stands above the others, occupying sixth place with $38.5 million. Now on the agenda The question of the day is whether Djokovic will be able to reach the $200 million mark in his career. Theoretically, this may require him one season, although most likely no less than two.

Prize money for a career in the APR ($)

• 180 643 353 Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 2003−2023
• 134 640 719 Rafael Nadal (Spain) 2001−2023
• 130 594 339 Roger Federer (Switzerland) 1997−2021
• 64,246,026 Andy Murray (Great Britain) 2002−2023
• 43 280 489 Pete Sampras (USA) 1988−2002

What is missing

The most valuable award that is still missing from Djokovic’s collection is the Olympic gold medal. In this he is inferior to both Nadal, who won the Olympics in singles in 2008 in Beijing, and in doubles in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, and Federer, who won the doubles in Beijing. Obviously, the last real chance to fill the “Olympic gap” for the Serbian tennis player will be the upcoming Games in Paris, for which he is preparing in a special way. So far, Djokovic has only won Beijing bronze in singles.

The record for the number of titles during the Open era (since 1968) has not been conquered by him either. It is currently owned by Jimmy Connors, who has won 109 tournaments. Federer is next with 103 titles, and Djokovic, who has 98 titles after the Turin triumph, is third on this list. Since winning 12 titles in one season at the final stage of his career is unrealistic even for such a master as Djokovic, it is obvious that he needs at least two more years to conquer this record.

It will be even more difficult for Djokovic to improve on Connors’ record of most matches won. Now the Serb has 1087, and the American had 1274. (By the way, Federer fell just short of this figure, stopping at 1251 victories). Considering that in this very successful season for Djokovic, he scored 56 victories, we can conclude that he needs about four more seasons to get Connors.

Evgeniy Fedyakov