Earlier this year, Novak Djokovic landed his 18th Grand Slam title, in winning the Australian Open. He’s now just two titles behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who both share the record for the most Grand Slams in men’s singles history.
With Roland Garros currently hosting the French Open, there are three more Slams to challenge for this year – and while the ‘King of Clay’ is the favourite once again in Paris, according to the latest odds with Betdaq, it’s set to be an another exciting season between men’s tennis’ ‘Big Three’. Who will come out on top come at the end of 2021?
French Open
Of course, Nadal is a formidable force on clay, emphasised by his 13 titles – a record for any man or woman across all four Grand Slam tournaments. But Djokovic has had some success on clay, winning the Open in 2016, while also winning the Italian Open five times – most recently, last season.
The draw has not been kind to the ‘Big Three’, and with Djokovic, Federer and Nadal all being drawn in the same half of the fixtures, it is more than likely they will meet each other in the tournament’s latter stages.
Last year, Nadal defeated Djokovic in the final – a straight sets victory: 6–0, 6–2, 7–5. The two have already met on clay this season, in the warm-up to the French Open, the Italian Open. Again, victory fell in Nadal’s favour. Buy Djokovic stands as good a chance as any. Not only does it depend how the draw falls, but also Nadal’s fitness could have a huge bearing on how the tournament pans out.
Wimbledon
With the 2020 edition cancelled amidst the pandemic, Djokovic will be looking to retain his men’s singles title at SW19. The Serbian has won the last two tournaments, and has five titles in all at the All England Club. It’s fair to say that Wimbledon is Djokovic’s best chance of landing another title, where competition is not as tight – and he has been dominant since Federer’s decline.
And it was the Swiss Maestro that Nole beat in 2019. An epic four hour and 58-minute battle over five sets, which saw Djokovic triumphant: 7–6(7–5), 1–6, 7–6(7–4), 4–6, 13–12(7–3). While, in 2018, Kevin Anderson was his opponent in a less formidable straight sets victory.
2016 was the last time that there were no members of the ‘Big Three’ in the Wimbledon final, many of the other big names in the ATP World Rankings haven’t looked to challenge the leading trio on the grass courts. The likes of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev have never made it further than the fourth round,
US Open
There was disappointment at Flushing Meadows last year, when Djokovic exited in controversial circumstances in the fourth round – after hitting a line judge with a stray ball. He was narrowly losing the opening set 6-5 against Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta, before the incident, which saw the favourite disqualified from the tournament.
While Djokovic only has three US Open titles to his name – the fewest out of the ‘Big Three’, he has reached the final eight times in all, and there’s no doubt that he will look to make amends for last season. The US Open is the most unpredictable tournament of all four Grand Slams – with four different winners in the last five years – but falling at the end of a long and arduous season, fitness is a huge factor.
