Novak Djokovic Will Sweep the 2021 Grand Slams
One of the top 3 male tennis players of all-time is on pace to break history for the first time in over 50 years. Moving into the semi-finals of the 2021 Wimbledon tournament will mark the third straight time. With his main competitor Roger Federer being eliminated in the quarter finals on Wednesday, this tournament is his to lose and will take it home for a third straight year.
Making History
Djokovic has already won the Australian Open and French Open this year, he has the Wimbledon this week and the US Open at the end of August. It really is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when he wins all 4, he will be the first player since the great Rod Laver to win all 4 in a single calendar year.
He was actually the most recent player to win 3 out of the 4, in 2015. He won the Australian Open against Andy Murray in 4 sets; 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0. His only Grand Slam loss that year was the French Open where he lost to Stan Wawrinka in 4 sets; 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 4-6. He then bounced back at Wimbledon defeating arguably the greatest player of all time Roger Federer in 4 sets again; 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. Finally, to conclude his great 2015 season he got a rematch against Federer in the US Open where he won again in 4 sets; 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Roger Federer was the only other player this century to come close to winning all 4 in the same year. He won 3 grand slams per year in 3 consecutive years, pretty good if you ask me!
Historic 2021 Season
As mentioned before, Djokovic already has the Australian and French Open under his belt.
Throughout his career he has always been dominant at the Australian Open. They say Nadal is the King of the French Open, and Federer is the King of Wimbledon. Well, Djokovic is easily the King of the Australian Open, with 9 titles.
The 2021 Aussie Open was nothing short of the same for Novak. He cruised past the first round, and then struggled a bit against two Americans in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. He found his groove again in the 4th round against Milos Raonic, where he notched grand slam victory #300. The quarter finals through the finals were just too easy for him as he did not drop a single set.
The 2021 French Open showed just how great Novak Djokovic really is. He cruised through the first 3 rounds, but ran into trouble in the 4th round. He found himself down 2 sets and on the brink of elimination found a way to comeback and win. From there he only dropped one set to Berrettini and Nadal in the quarter and semi finals. In the final, he had another near defeat as he was down 0-2 again, but as we come to expect he won in 5 sets in great fashion.
He has been absolutely dominant in the Wimbledon this year too, as he made the semi-finals again. He is currently en route to win his 3rd straight Wimbledon, and has all the momentum on his side. In the first round he had a rude awakening after dropping the first set, but since then it has been too easy for Djokovic because he hasn’t dropped another set.
The US Open will be interesting for Djokovic this year, I say that because of what happened to him in 2020. He was disqualified from the tournament after inadvertently striking a linesmen in the neck with a ball after a frustrating call. That marked the 2nd straight year that he was eliminated in the 4th round.
After missing the 2017 US open due to injury he came back and won the whole thing in 2018, I expect him to replicate that this year especially given the way he finished last year.
