Novak will be the greatest... even better than Federer
Murray now the only man who can stop super Serb in Grand Slams
WHATEVER era it is, achieving the career Grand Slam by winning all four majors on three different surfaces is still the toughest thing in our sport.
Novak Djokovic achieved it after overcoming the one hurdle left in the French Open at Roland Garros and now the 29-year-old is on course to beat Roger Federer’s record total of 17 Grand Slams and become the greatest of all-time.
It is quite phenomenal when you think of the players Djokovic has beaten to win his 12 major titles.
But now, other than Andy Murray, there is a big gap between the world No 1 and the rest of the top 10, more of a gap than there has been for years and I see Murray as the only player with a chance against him in Grand Slams.
Djokovic would still have been regarded as a great player if he had not won at Roland Garros, but to be considered as the best you have got to win all four Grand Slams at some stage. I do not see how you can put someone up there with the best if they cannot master every surface.
That is why for me I could never put Pete Sampras up there as the best of all-time because his clay-court ability, by his standards, was pretty poor.
Just six years ago, Djokovic was pulling out of matches and always looking like he was ill. He had a breathing problem and people questioned whether he had the guts. It is amazing what he has done really to turn that around. He is meticulous in everything he does, every bit of preparation from his diet to his workouts. It is all planned like a machine.
The best part of his game is the way he can change defence into offence quicker than anybody else.
When I am watching a match, I am looking at percentage of chances during points. If a player pushes his opponent off the court during the rally, he has an 80 to 20 chance to win the point. When it is neutral, it is 50-50. When Djokovic is at 80-20 down during a rally and his opponent is inside the baseline with the chance to manoeuvre him and hit a winner or come in for the volley, it amazes me the amount of times that Djokovic recovers from that position to come back to 50-50 because he is so athletic.
He is often in a tricky position and manages to hook the ball back deep right into the corner. Then he reverses it quickly with his next shot to go 80-20 up. That to me is his real genius. All of a sudden the court becomes smaller against Djokovic as the match goes on because of his mindboggling speed and he just forces you to go closer to the lines until you start missing.
Djokovic’s serve has improved no end too. I remember six years ago at the French Open he tried to change his service motion and he got a hitch in it. Every time he threw the ball up for the second serve, you thought he was going to hit a double fault. He had the yips on his serve. But then he found his rhythm and now his serve is one of the best. He does not hit aces like the big boys but he hits it with pinpoint accuracy.
And his return is one of the greatest in history. Players like John Isner and Milos Raonic get their serve bouncing up to almost ladder height and he somehow finds a way not only to get it back but in an awkward position right back at them before they can breathe.
The weakest part of his game is his overhead shots, but how are you going to exploit that? Throw up lobs all the time? No. The second weakest part is his volley, which he has now improved on. It takes something super human — like Stan Wawrinka when he beat Djokovic at Roland Garros last year — by just clubbing winners from all over the park. It takes a golden match.
I am not saying it is going to be easy for Djokovic at Wimbledon. A potential quarter-final against big-serving Canadian Raonic on a grass court is going to be dangerous, but Djokovic’s path is pretty good, apart from Murray.
Whatever happens, I would put more money on him breaking Federer’s Grand Slam record than not.