It was the final touch to an unbeatable start to the season after accumulating two titles, the first ‘slam’ of the year and the ATP Cup, where he had to beat players of the stature of Federer and Nadal themselves, the Russian Daniil Medvedev and the Austrian Dominic Thiem.
In addition, it disabled the first-time feat of landing at least one Grand Slam title in three different decades (2000-2010; 2010-2020; and 2020-2030.
“One of my great goals is to achieve the greatest number of Grand Slam tournaments and that is the reason why I continue to compete and play all season,” the Belgrade man admitted this Sunday with his gaze fixed on the record of the Swiss with twenty.
His other great challenge is to become the historical number one currently held by Federer with 310 weeks at the top and that is followed by the American Pete Sampras who reigned for 286 weeks, 10 less than Djokovic.
A career, which was often reduced to Nadal versus Federer, has seen a new protagonist, or villain, after closing a major tournament that has him as the most successful tennis player.
For his part, the manacorí will have a new opportunity to attack the first place at the end of February with the celebration of the championships in Acapulco, where the Spanish will play, and Dubai, which will feature Djokovic.
However, the main concern of the Spanish will be the defense of Roland Garros to equal Federer with twenty grand and regain the advantage of three crowns with his pursuer Djokovic.
This three-way fight to see who is proclaimed the best tennis player in history has alienated the members of the new generation who were mostly overwhelmed in Melbourne.
With the exception of the German Alexander Zverev, all the components of the legacy that is to come once again played a secondary role, especially the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Russian Daniil Medvedev and the Italian Mateo Berrettini.
None of them reached the quarterfinals despite the comforts that the table offered them as main favorites, so the Austrian Dominic Thiem, finalist of the tournament, had to be renamed as the main representative of the young people despite his 26 years.
It is true that the pupil of Chilean Nicolás Massú has all the ballots to be in charge of overthrowing the Nadal-Federer-Djokovic hegemony, present in the titles of the last thirteen majors, after the Belgrade player himself will guarantee that he will win more of one soon during the trophy presentation.
“Soon you will win more than one, today you have been very close. I would like to ask for all the respect in the world for both his team and his family, “said the Serbian after receiving the trophy from former Russian number one Marat Safin, winner of the 2005 edition. EFE