by Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
So back in late 2019, I started working on a story under the title “If Novak Djokovic Wins This Tournament, He’s The GOAT.”
This is when the Serbian Sensation was sitting at 16 major singles titles, still four shy of Roger Federer’s record and three shy of Rafael Nadal’s second place tally of 19.
“There is the well-known and discussed debate between Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal about who among these three titans of tennis are the greatest of all time – or the GOAT,” I wrote in my draft story, still found on my computer. “However, if Novak Djokovic just wins one particular title, he will make perhaps the strongest argument for GOAT status. That tournament is the Olympic Games.”
The Olympic Games is the only big event in tennis that he hasn’t won. Other than the gold medal, he has every major trophy there is to win in tennis – all four major singles titles and all nine Masters Series 1000 titles, the year-end ATP World Tour Finals and, in team tennis, he won the Davis Cup for his native Serbia in 2010. He won the ATP Cup for Serbia as well in 2020. Djokovic is not just the only player to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles, but he’s won them all at least twice! Of course, he is the only man in the Open Era to win all four major championships at least twice.
Federer has also won all four majors, but has not won the clay-court Masters Series titles in Monte Carlo and Rome, which are two of the most prestigious events in tennis other than the majors. Federer also has not won Olympic gold in singles (he won doubles in 2008), but he did win silver in singles in 2012, losing to Andy Murray in the gold medal match.
Nadal has won all four majors, but has not won the Masters Series title in Miami and also the year-end ATP World Tour Finals, which are major omissions on his career resume. Nadal has won gold in singles AND doubles at the Olympic Games, winning gold in singles in 2008 and in doubles with Marc Lopez in 2016.
Djokovic did win a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, beating James Blake in the bronze medal match after losing to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. At the 2012 Games in London at Wimbledon, he was defeated by Andy Murray in the semifinals and surprisingly lost to Juan Martin del Potro in the bronze medal match. At the 2016 Games in Rio, Djokovic was the top seed and poised to contend for gold, but drew del Potro in the first round and was upset and left the court in tears with his Olympic dream in shatters.
