Last Sunday at 4 pm Eastern Standard Time, the sporting world paused, searched for the television remote and switched the channel. Yes, it was the first weekend of the 2021 National Football League, where millions of dollars are wagered every week on the games and fantasy football players worry about their ‘teams,’ but now everyone’s attention was focused on the US Open Men’s Final at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York. History was in the making, and every sports fan wanted to witness it.
Novak Djokovic sat on the precipice of history, seeking to become only the second man to achieve the ever elusive Grand Slam, by winning all four major tennis tournaments – Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open – in a calendar year. In the Open Era, which commenced in 1968 (when professionals were allowed to compete with amateurs), the feat of capturing tennis’ Holy Grail had been accomplished only once in the Men’s Division, by Rod Laver, in 1969, and twice on the women’s side, by Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graff (1988).
Standing between the number one ranked Djokovic and his date with history was the young Russian, Daniil Medvedev, playing in his third Grand Slam final. The Goliath, Djokovic, appearing in his 31st Major Final, loomed ominously. While his game holds no weaknesses, Djokovic is a master of detecting and exploiting an opponent’s own. David (Medvedev) was not going to be intimidated this time around. Two years ago, in the US Open final, Medvedev suffered a heartbreaking five-set loss to Rafael Nadal, and in February he had bowed to the two-time defending Australian Open camp in straight sets, the man he now stared at across the net.
As the world anxiously waited, Medvedev lived up to his declaration after his semi-final victory that, “No matter the score, I’m just going to turn up the heat.” Calm and patient, David took the fight to Goliath, seized control of the match from the first game, and in 36 minutes reeled off the first set, 6 – 4. It was the beginning of the end for Djokovic, who appeared to be showing the lingering effects of a hard fought five-set semi-final. Frustrated in the second set at failing to convert break opportunities, Djokovic smashed his racquet. It was over, bar the shouting, with Medvedev cruising to a straight set victory, 6 – 4, 6 – 4, 6 – 4.
Medvedev’s first major title comes as no surprise. As the leader of tennis’ Gen-Nex, he gained the ATP number two ranking in March of this year, and leads all players on the ATP Tour since 2018 in hard-court titles (12), and wins (147). In the 2020 ATP Finals, he became the first player to ever defeat the world’s top three ranked players en route to the title.
This was Djokovic’s moment to depart the Big Three and step into the stratosphere of the unknown. Since 2003, Roger Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have stamped their hallmarks on men’s professional tennis. Barring Andy Murray’s occasional interventions, they have dominated the game, as their rivalry pushed the sport to another level. Of the 73 major titles at stake since the 2003 Wimble-don, the trio have garnered 60, split evenly, at 20 per player. Their supremacy in the game for this length of time knows no comparison. However, as of late, the ultimate tennis umpire, Father Time has arrived on the sidelines, and injuries have started to take toll on the three Musketeers.
How does one measure the monumental task of achieving the Grand Slam? The only other discipline with a similar gauntlet is golf’s four majors, but those are played within a four-month time span, three of which are played in the USA, and even that feat has never been attained, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, notwithstanding.
Whereas, the four major tennis tournaments are scheduled between January and September, thus requiring a player to maintain a run of form twice as long. Further compounding the Sisyphean task is that the tournaments are staged on three vastly different surfaces – hard (Australian Open; grass preceding 1988) and (US Open; clay prior to 1978), clay (French Open), and grass (Wimbledon) — in four countries.
In addition to those variables, since Laver’s feat, the game of tennis has undergone drastic changes to its structure more so than other sports, since it was one of the first disciplines to benefit from top television billing, and the subsequent huge corporate sponsorship. The influence of technology in the development of racquet power has revolutionized the way the game is played, and coupled with the varying surfaces players encounter on the tour – the International Tennis Federation recognizes ten different types of surfaces ranging from clay to concrete to asphalt to acrylic/polyurethane to grass, of course – it would be foolhardy to compare Djokovic’s trek with that of Laver.
The Big Three are approaching their final years on the tour. It is rumoured that Federer has contemplated riding off into the sunset. Nadal will most likely appear sparingly on the circuit, aiming to protect his already well-worn knees, while tacking on one or two more French Open titles to his incredible total of 13. We have not seen the last of Djokovic, who seems to always rebound from his troubles, whether it be an injury or loss of form. Gen-Nex willing or not, odds are Djokovic will probably win at least two more tennis majors.
In time to come, we will look back at Djokovic’s astonishing efforts in coming so close this year to snaring the elusive Grand Slam and realize how fortunate we were to bear witness to one of the all-time great feats in sport.
