After losing in the semi-finals of the
Open 13 tournament in Marseille to Tsonga, Djokovic won the singles title at the
Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating Ferrer to claim his twelfth career title.
[85] The following week, Djokovic was the defending champion at the
BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, but lost to Roddick in the quarterfinals. At the
Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Djokovic beat Federer in the semi-finals, before losing to Murray in the final.
[86]
Djokovic reached the final of the next ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, the
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on clay, losing to Nadal in the final. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, Djokovic failed to defend the title he had won the previous year, losing in the final.
[87]
Djokovic was the top seed at his hometown tournament, the
Serbia Open in Belgrade. He defeated first-time finalist
Łukasz Kubot to win his second title of the year.
[88] As third seed at the
Madrid Open, Djokovic advanced to the semi-finals without dropping a set. There, he faced Nadal and lost despite holding three match points. The match, at 4 hours and 3 minutes, was the longest three-set singles match on the ATP World Tour in the Open Era.
[89] At the
French Open, he lost in the third round to German
Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Djokovic began his grass court season at the
Gerry Weber Open where, after the withdrawal of Federer, he competed as the top seed. He advanced to the final, where he lost to German
Tommy Haas.
[90] Djokovic then lost to Haas in the quarterfinals of
Wimbledon.
[91]
At the
China Open in Beijing, Djokovic defeated
Victor Hănescu,
Viktor Troicki, Verdasco, and
Robin Söderling en route to the final, where he defeated
Marin Čilić in straight sets to win his third title of the year.
[94] Djokovic then lost in the semi-finals of the inaugural
Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 to Davydenko. At the
Swiss Indoors in
Basel, Djokovic defeated
Jan Hernych to make it to the quarterfinals,
[95] where he recovered from a deficit to defeat Wawrinka before going on to win his semi-final against Štěpánek. In the final, he defeated home favourite and three-time defending champion Federer to win his fourth title of the year.
[96] At the last Masters 1000 event of the year at the
BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, Djokovic won his first Masters 1000 title of the year by defeating Nadal in the semi-finals,
[97] before outlasting
Gaël Monfils in the final.
[98]
Coming into the year-ending
ATP World Tour Finals in London as the defending champion, Djokovic defeated Davydenko in his first round-robin match
[99] before losing his second match to Söderling.
[100] Despite victory over Nadal in his third round-robin match, Djokovic failed to make the semi-finals.
[101]
Djokovic ended the year as the No. 3 for the third consecutive year, having played 97 matches, the most of any player on the ATP World Tour, with a 78–19 win-loss record. In addition to leading the ATP World Tour in match wins, he reached a career best ten finals, winning five titles. Djokovic also played a large role in promoting Serbia to the 2009 World Group. On 6–8 March 2010, he played a key role in bringing Serbia to the World Group quarterfinals for the first time in its independent history, winning both singles matches in the home tie against the
United States against
Sam Querrey and
John Isner.
[102]
2010: Davis Cup title & US Open runner-up
Djokovic then took part in Serbia's
Davis Cup tie against the United States on clay in Belgrade and helped his country reach its first quarterfinal in the Davis Cup with a 3–2 victory, defeating Querrey and Isner. At the
Indian Wells Masters, Djokovic lost in the fourth round to Ljubičić. At the
Miami Masters, he lost in his opening match to
Olivier Rochus. Djokovic then announced that he had ceased working with
Todd Martin as his coach.
[106]
Djokovic entered the
French Open seeded third. He defeated
Evgeny Korolev,
Kei Nishikori, Victor Hănescu, and
Robby Ginepri en route to the quarterfinals, where he lost to
Jürgen Melzer in five sets.
[109] Djokovic entered
Wimbledon as the third seed, defeating Rochus,
Taylor Dent,
Albert Montañés,
Lleyton Hewitt, and
Yen-Hsun Lu en route to the semi-finals, which he lost to Tomáš Berdych in straight sets.
[110]
Djokovic then competed at the
Rogers Cup in Toronto, where he lost to Federer in the semi-finals. Djokovic also competed in doubles with Nadal in a one-time, high-profile partnership. This had not happened since 1976, when
Jimmy Connors and
Arthur Ashe as No. 1 and No. 2 paired together as a doubles team.
[111] They lost in the first round to Canadians
Milos Raonic and
Vasek Pospisil. Djokovic then lost to Roddick in the quarterfinals of the
Cincinnati Masters.
[112]
As the third seed at the
US Open, Djokovic came very close to losing in his opening round against Viktor Troicki in extreme heat. He then defeated
Philipp Petzschner, James Blake, Mardy Fish, and No. 17 seed Gaël Monfils, all in straight sets, to reach the US Open semi-finals for the fourth consecutive year. There, he defeated Federer in five sets after saving two match points with forehand winners while serving to stay in the match at 4–5 in the 5th set. It was Djokovic's first victory over Federer at the US Open in four attempts, and his first victory over Federer in a Major since the 2008 Australian Open. Djokovic went on to lose to Nadal in the final, a match that saw Nadal complete his career Grand Slam.
[113]
After helping Serbia defeat the Czech Republic 3–2 to make it to the Davis Cup final, Djokovic competed at the
China Open as the top seed and defending champion. He won the title for the second successive year, after defeating
Maoxin Gong, Mardy Fish (walkover),
Gilles Simon, and John Isner en route to the final. Djokovic then defeated Ferrer in the final. At the Shanghai Masters, Djokovic made a semi-final appearance, losing to Federer. Djokovic played his final tournament of the year at the
ATP World Tour Finals in London. Djokovic was placed in Group A along with Nadal, Berdych, and Roddick. Djokovic won his first round-robin match against Berdych. He next lost to Nadal. He defeated Roddick in his final round-robin match and advanced to the semi-finals, where he lost to Federer in two sets.
[114]
Djokovic went on to win his two singles rubbers in Serbia's Davis Cup finals victory over
France. This started a long unbeaten run that went on into 2011. Djokovic finished the year ranked No. 3, his fourth successive finish at this position. He was awarded the title "Serbian Sportsman of the year" by the
Olympic Committee of Serbia and "Serbian Athlete of the year" by
DSL Sport.
Serbia progressed to the Davis Cup final, following the victories over
Croatia (4–1) and the
Czech Republic (3–2). Serbia came from 1–2 down to defeat France in the final tie 3–2 in Belgrade to win the nation's first Davis Cup Championship. In the final, Djokovic scored two singles points for Serbia, defeating Gilles Simon and Gaël Monfils.
[115] He was the backbone of the Serbian squad, going 7–0 in singles rubbers to lead the nation to the title, although the honour of winning the deciding rubber in the final went to compatriot Viktor Troicki.
2011: Three Majors and No. 1 ranking
Djokovic won ten tournaments in 2011,
[35] including Grand Slam tournament victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
[35] Djokovic also captured a record-breaking five
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles,
[35][116] and set a new record for the most prize money won in a single season on the ATP World Tour ($12 million).
[35] His level dropped at season's end beginning with a back injury and ended with a poor showing at the
ATP World Tour Finals. Djokovic finished the season with a 70–6 record and a year-end ranking of No. 1.
Pete Sampras declared Djokovic's 2011 season as the best he has ever seen in his lifetime, calling it "one of the best achievements in all of sports."
[117] Boris Becker called Djokovic's season "one of the very best years in tennis of all time", adding that it "may not be the best statistically, but he's beaten Federer, he's beaten Nadal, he's beaten everybody that came around to challenge him in the biggest tournaments in the world."
[118] Rafael Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in six finals on three different surfaces, described Djokovic's performances as "probably the highest level of tennis that I ever saw."
[119] Djokovic was named 2011
ITF World Champion.
[120] He also received the
Golden Bagel Award by winning 13 sets with the result of 6–0 during the season.
[121]
In the semi-finals of the
2011 Davis Cup, Djokovic played a crucial rubber match for Serbia against Juan Martín del Potro of Argentina, where he retired while trailing, after reaggravating a back injury sustained during the US Open tournament. This secured Argentina's place in the final. This marked Djokovic's third loss of his 2011 season, and his second retirement.
[122]
2012: Third Australian Open title and year-end No. 1
Djokovic began his season by winning the
2012 Australian Open. He won his first four rounds against
Paolo Lorenzi,
[123] Santiago Giraldo,
Nicolas Mahut and Lleyton Hewitt, respectively. In the quarterfinals he defeated David Ferrer in three sets. In the semi-final, Djokovic beat Murray in five sets after 4 hours and 50 minutes, coming back from a two-sets-to-one deficit and fending off break points at 5-all in the fifth set.
[124] In the
final, Djokovic beat Nadal in five sets, coming from a break down in the final set to win 7–5. At 5 hours and 53 minutes, the match was the longest final in Open Era Grand Slam history, as well as the longest match in Australian Open history, surpassing the 5-hour and 14-minute 2009 semi-final between Nadal and Fernando Verdasco.
[125]
Djokovic was beaten by John Isner in the semi-finals at
Indian Wells. He successfully defended his title in
Miami. In the
Monte Carlo final, he lost in straight sets to Nadal, unable to prevent Nadal from earning his record-breaking eighth consecutive title there. Djokovic also lost in straight sets to Nadal at the Rome Masters 2012 final.
[126]
Djokovic reached his maiden French Open final in 2012 by defeating Federer,
[127] reaching the finals of all four majors consecutively. Djokovic had the chance to become the first man since
Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four major titles at once, having won last year's
Wimbledon and
US Open titles as well as
this year's Australian Open, but was beaten by Nadal in the final in four sets.
[128][129] Following the French Open, Djokovic was unsuccessful in defending his
Wimbledon title from the prior year, losing to Roger Federer in four sets in the semi-finals.
At the
2012 Summer Olympics in London, Djokovic was chosen as the flag bearer for Serbia.
[130] On 2 August 2012, Djokovic defeated French fifth seed Tsonga and advanced to the semi-finals of Olympics, where he was beaten by Murray in straight sets.
[131] In the bronze medal match he lost to Del Potro, finishing 4th.
[132] He successively defended his Rogers Cup title, dropping just a single set to Tommy Haas. Following the Rogers Cup, Djokovic would make the finals of the
Cincinnati Masters but lost to Roger Federer in straight sets.
[133]
At the US Open on 9 September, Djokovic reached his third consecutive final at
Flushing Meadows by beating fourth-seeded David Ferrer in a match suspended a day earlier due to rain.
[134][135] He then lost the final to Murray in five sets.
[136] Djokovic went on to defend his China Open title, defeating Tsonga in straight sets.
[137] The following week he won the Shanghai Masters by defeating Murray in the final.
[138] With Federer's withdrawal from the Paris Masters, Djokovic was guaranteed to regain his No. 1 ranking.
[139] On 12 November 2012, Djokovic won the
2012 ATP World Tour Finals by defeating Federer in the final.
[140][141][142] Because of his achievements in the 2012 season, Djokovic was named the 2012
ITF World Champion in men's singles by the
International Tennis Federation.
[143]
2013: Fourth Australian Open title
Djokovic began the 2013 season by defeating Murray in the final of the
2013 Australian Open to win a record third consecutive Australian Open trophy and the sixth major of his career.
[144] A week later, he participated in a
Davis Cup match against
Belgium, where he defeated Olivier Rochus in straight sets to give the Serbian team a 2–0 lead.
[145]
On 2 March 2013, Djokovic won the thirty-sixth professional single's title of his career by defeating Tomáš Berdych in the final of the
Dubai Tennis Championships.
[146] Another solid week of tennis saw Djokovic reach the semi-finals at the
BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, before losing to del Potro, bringing an end to his twenty-two match winning streak.
[147] The following week, Djokovic went into the
Miami Masters as defending champion, but lost in the fourth round to Tommy Haas in straight sets.
[148]
In April, Djokovic played for Serbia as the country faced the United States in the Davis Cup quarterfinals. Djokovic clinched the tie for his team by defeating John Isner and Sam Querrey.
[149][150] Later that month, he defeated eight-time champion Nadal in straight sets in the final of the
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters to clinch his first title in Monte Carlo.
[151] In May, he was defeated by
Grigor Dimitrov in three sets in the second round of the
Mutua Madrid Open in Madrid.
[152] The following week, he lost to Berdych at the quarterfinal stage of the Rome Masters.
[153]
Djokovic began his
French Open campaign with a straight three sets win over
David Goffin in the first round and also defeated
Guido Pella in straight sets in the second round. In the third round, Djokovic defeated Dimitrov in three sets.
[154] In the fourth round he came back from a set down and defeated
Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in four sets
[155] and in the process he had reached a 16th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. Djokovic then lost to Nadal in the semi-final in five sets.
[156]
In the finals of the
2013 Wimbledon Championships, Djokovic lost to Murray in straight sets. At the Rogers Cup, he lost to Nadal in the semi-final in three sets. Later, Djokovic lost to Isner in the quarterfinals in Cincinnati. Djokovic went on to reach the US Open final, where he met Nadal for the 37th time in his career (a new open era record). He went on to lose in four sets.
[157] In early October, Djokovic collected his fourth Beijing title by defeating Nadal in the final in straight sets. He also collected his second Shanghai Rolex Masters title, extending his winning streak to 20–0 over the last 2 seasons at the hard court Asian swing of the tour.
[158] Djokovic won his 16 Masters 1000 title in Paris at the end of the season, beating David Ferrer in the final.
[159] At the
2013 ATP World Tour Finals Djokovic retained the trophy, beating Nadal in straight sets.
[160] At the end of the season,
Boris Becker joined his staff as head coach.
2014: Second Wimbledon title and return to No. 1
Djokovic began the year with a warmup tournament win, the
2013 Mubadala World Tennis Championship. At the
Australian Open, he won his first four matches in straight sets, against
Lukáš Lacko,
Leonardo Mayer,
Denis Istomin and No. 15 seed
Fabio Fognini respectively. He met Wawrinka in the quarterfinals of the tournament, the second consecutive year the two had met at the event. Despite coming back from two sets to one down, Djokovic fell 9–7 in the fifth set, ending his 25–match winning streak in Melbourne, as well as his streak of 14 consecutive Grand Slam tournament semi-finals.
[161] The week of 27 January marked the first time since 2011 that Djokovic has not been a Grand Slam title holder.
Djokovic also would play in the
Dubai Tennis Championships but lost to eventual champion Roger Federer in the semi-finals. However, Djokovic would avenge his loss to Federer, winning his third
Indian Wells Masters title, beating Federer in the final. Continuing his good run, he beat No. 1 Nadal in the final of the
Miami Masters in straight sets.
[162] Suffering from a wrist injury which hampered him throughout the
Monte-Carlo Masters, Djokovic lost the semi-finals to Federer in straight sets. After returning from injury, Djokovic won his third Rome title by beating Nadal in the final of the
Italian Open.
[163] He subsequently donated the $500,000 in prize money that he had received to the victims of the
2014 Southeast Europe floods.
[164]
Djokovic reached the final of the
French Open losing only two sets in six matches, but lost in the final to Nadal in four sets. It was Djokovic's first defeat in the last 5 matches between both. At the
Wimbledon Championships Djokovic defeated
Roger Federer in the
final in five sets. With this victory he replaced Rafael Nadal again as the world No. 1.
[165] Djokovic played at the
Rogers Cup, losing to eventual first-time champion
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets.
[166] He followed that with a loss to Tommy Robredo at the Cincinnati Masters. At the
US Open, Djokovic reached the semi-finals, where he lost in four sets to
Kei Nishikori.
[167]
Djokovic returned to Beijing with a fifth trophy in six years, defeating Murray in the semi-final and Berdych in the final.
[168] The following week he was beaten by Federer in the semi-final of
Shanghai Masters. He then won the
Paris Bercy masters title, without losing a single set, beating Raonic in the final.
[169]
In the World Tour Finals, Djokovic created a record by winning three round robin matches with a loss of just nine games. By reaching the semi-final, he also secured the year-end No. 1 ranking for the third time, tying him with Nadal at fifth position. He was awarded the
World Tour Finals trophy after Federer withdrew before the finals.
[170] This marked the 7th title of the season for him and the 4th title at the World Tour Finals.
2015: One of the greatest tennis seasons of all time
Djokovic began the season at the
Qatar Open in Doha, where he won his first two rounds for the loss of just 6 games, however lost in the quarterfinals against
Ivo Karlović in three tight sets. He rebounded from this defeat well at the
Australian Open, where he made it through the first five rounds without dropping a set. In the semi-finals he faced defending champion
Stan Wawrinka, the man who beat him the previous year. He twice lost a set lead, however came roaring back in the fifth to take it to love, and set up a third final against Andy Murray. After splitting the first two sets in tiebreakers, Djokovic suddenly found his form after dropping his serve at the start of the third set, going on to win 12 of the last 13 games to record a four set victory over the Scot, and win an Open Era record-breaking fifth title in Melbourne, overtaking Roger Federer and
Andre Agassi.
[171] He moved into equal eighth on the all-time list of men with the most Major titles, tying Agassi,
Ivan Lendl,
Jimmy Connors,
Ken Rosewall and
Fred Perry.
[172]
He next competed at the
Dubai Tennis Championships and lost to Roger Federer in the final.
[173] After 2 weeks, Djokovic defeated John Isner and Andy Murray en route to his 21st Masters 1000 title, beating Federer in three sets in Indian Wells.
[174] In Miami, he defeated David Ferrer and John Isner en route to winning his fifth title defeating Andy Murray in three sets. With his 22nd Masters title, Djokovic became the first player to complete the Indian Wells – Miami title sweep three times.
[175][176] In April, Djokovic clinched his second Monte-Carlo Masters by beating Tomas Berdych in the final.
[177] Djokovic withdrew from the 2015 Madrid Masters.
[178] He won the title for the fourth time at the
Rome Masters, making it 4 out of 4 titles in Masters 1000 events entered by Djokovic in 2015.
He continued his good form on clay at the
French Open, by reaching the final without dropping a set in the first five rounds, including a quarterfinal clash with Nadal and a five set semi-final victory over No. 3 seed Andy Murray which took two days to complete. This meant he became only the second man to have won against Nadal at the French Open. However, he lost the next match and the tournament to No. 8 seed
Stan Wawrinka in four sets, after having prevailed in the first set and being up a break in the fourth set and up 40–0 on Wawrinka's serve in a subsequent game. He lost six of the final seven games of the match. With this loss, Djokovic was denied his first victory at the French Open and a personal career Grand Slam.
[179] Five weeks later, he rebounded again from a tough loss in Paris, just like 2014, coming from two sets down to beat
Kevin Anderson in the fourth round, and then going on to claim his third Wimbledon title in his fourth final at the
All England Club, with a four set win over Roger Federer.
[180]
Prior to the final Grand Slam event of the year, Djokovic had the chance to become the first man in history to complete the full set of
Masters 1000 titles in
Cincinnati, and reached the final for the fifth time, however he was once again beaten by Federer, making it a fifth straight defeat in a Cincinnati final.
[181] At the
2015 US Open, Djokovic reached the final for the sixth time in his career, achieving the feat of reaching all four grand slam finals in a single calendar year. In the final of the tournament, he faced Federer once again, defeating him in four sets to win his third grand slam title of the year, his second title at Flushing Meadows, and his tenth career Grand Slam singles title, becoming the fifth man in the Open Era to win ten or more Grand Slam singles titles, as well as only the third man to reach all four Major finals in a calendar year.
[182]
He returned to Beijing in October, winning the title for the sixth time, defeating Nadal in straight sets in the final to bring his overall record at the tournament to 29–0.
[183] Djokovic then reached the final of the
Paris Masters, where he defeated Murray in straight sets, taking his fourth title there and a record sixth ATP Masters 1000 tournament in one year.
[184] After losing to Federer in the round-robin stage of the
2015 ATP World Tour Finals he took on the third seed again in the final. He beat Federer in straight sets winning his fifth World Tour Finals title and he became the first player to win four consecutive end-of-year finals tournaments.
[185]
2016: 'Nole' Slam and ranking points record
Djokovic collected his 60th career title in
Doha, defeating Nadal in two sets in a final that lasted 73 minutes. He broke his own ATP ranking points record, bringing it up to 16,790. Djokovic then proceeded to win his sixth
Australian Open. On his road to his
Open Era record sixth title in Melbourne, he defeated Roger Federer in four sets in the semi-finals, and in a rematch of the 2015 final, he defeated Andy Murray, in three straight sets.
[186] He quickly rebounded from an eye infection at the Dubai open to collect a fifth Indian Wells Masters title, defeating Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, and Milos Raonic in the final. Djokovic's run was so dominant that Nos. 2 and 3 (Andy Murray and Roger Federer) could have combined their points and still not have had enough to pass him.
[187]
On 3 April 2016, Djokovic won the
2016 Miami Open for the third consecutive year, and did so without dropping a set en route to his sixth career Miami Open title, tying him with
Andre Agassi for most ever Miami Open men's singles titles.
[188] In addition, 2016 marked the third consecutive year that Djokovic swept both Indian Wells and the Miami Open, the first male singles player to ever do that. This was also the fourth time in his career Djokovic won both Miami and Indian Wells back-to-back. His finals win in Miami saw Djokovic surpass Roger Federer to become the all-time leading prize money winner on the ATP tour with career earnings of $98.2 million.
[189] After an early round exit at the Monte Carlo Masters,
[190] Djokovic quickly bounced back by winning the Madrid title for the second time in his career with a three set victory over Murray.
[191] They met again in the Rome Masters final one week later with Murray the victor, despite a sluggish performance, Djokovic defeated Nadal and Nishikori in two long quarterfinals and semi-finals.
[192]
Djokovic defeated Andy Murray in the final of the
2016 French Open in four sets, making him the reigning champion of all four major tournaments, a historic feat the media dubbed the "
Nole Slam."
[193][194] With his French Open triumph, Djokovic became the 8th player in history (and the second oldest) to achieve a
Career Grand Slam, the third player in history to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time, and the first player to win $100 million in prize money.
[195] However, at Wimbledon, his major win streak came to an end in the third-round when he lost to American
Sam Querrey in four sets. It was his earliest exit in a Grand Slam since the 2009 French Open.
[196]
In late July, Djokovic returned to form by winning his fourth Rogers cup title, and 30th Masters 1000 title overall, without dropping a set.
[197] In August, Novak was beaten in the first round of the Olympic men's singles in Rio de Janeiro by
Juan Martín del Potro. It was Djokovic's first opening round defeat since January 2009, when
Ernest Gulbis defeated him at the
2009 Brisbane International.
[198][199] In the final slam of the year, the
US Open, Djokovic advanced to the final but was defeated by Stan Wawrinka in four sets.
[200] Djokovic was defeated by
Roberto Bautista Agut and
Marin Cilic in the semi-finals and quarterfinals in Shanghai and Paris. As a result of this, he lost the No. 1 ranking to
Andy Murray.
[201] However, a runner-up finish at the World Tour Finals indicated his best performances in nearly three months. After the season, he parted ways with his coach of three years,
Boris Becker.
[202]
2017: Split with team and long injury hiatus
In January, Djokovic defended his title in
Doha defeating new world No. 1 Andy Murray in three sets. At the
2017 Australian Open, he was upset in the second round by No. 117
Denis Istomin of
Uzbekistan. This was the first time since
2007 that Djokovic had failed to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, and the first time ever in his career that he had lost to a player ranked outside of the top 100 in a Grand Slam tournament.
[203] In February and March, Djokovic played at the
Mexican Open and the
Indian Well Masters, but in both events was eliminated by
Nick Kyrgios, in the third and fourth rounds, respectively. In April, Djokovic reached the quarterfinals of the
Monte-Carlo Masters, losing to
David Goffin. After the tournament, he decided to split with his long-time coach
Marián Vajda, fitness specialist
Gebhard Phil-Gritsch and physioterapeut Miljan Amanović, citing the need to find a winning spark. A better showing at the Madrid Masters saw Djokovic reach the semi-finals, losing to Nadal in straight sets.
[204] A runner-up result at the Rome Masters indicated solid improvements in his form.
On 21 May 2017, he announced that
Andre Agassi would become his new coach, starting at the
2017 French Open. However, as the defending champion, he lost at Roland Garros in the quarterfinals to
Dominic Thiem.
[205] He prepared for Wimbledon at the
Eastbourne International, playing his first non-Wimbledon tournament on grass since the
2010 Aegon Championships. He won the tournament, beating
Gaël Monfils in the final. This marked his first grass title outside of Wimbledon. He made it to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon before retiring against
Tomas Berdych while down a set and a break, due to an elbow injury which he said had been bothering him for a year and a half.
[206]
On 26 July, Djokovic announced that he would miss the
2017 US Open and the rest of the 2017 season to fully recover from his elbow injury.
[207]
2018: Surgery, two Majors, back to No. 1, Career Golden Masters
Reuniting with
Marián Vajda, at the
Monte Carlo Masters, he collected victories over
Dusan Lajovic and
Borna Coric, followed by a loss to world no. 7 Dominic Thiem. In a press conference, he stated, "After two years finally I can play without pain."
[212] After another early exit, this time in
Barcelona to
Martin Klizan,
[213] Djokovic's gradual return to form would show itself at the
Madrid Masters. In his first win over a top 20 player in 10 months, he defeated Monte Carlo Masters runner-up
Kei Nishikori in straight sets, but did not progress past the second round, losing to
Kyle Edmund in three sets.
[214][215] Going into the
Rome Masters with a 6–6 season record, he reached the semifinals, losing to Rafael Nadal in straight sets.
[216] He later reached the quarterfinals of the
2018 French Open, where he lost to
Marco Cecchinato in four sets.
[217]
He had a strong start to the grass court season at
Queen's Club, securing his first win over a top 5 player in almost 18 months after defeating
Grigor Dimitrov in the second round. He then defeated
Adrian Mannarino and
Jérémy Chardy without dropping a set to reach the final where, despite having a championship point, he lost to top seed
Marin Čilić.
[218] He also played doubles partnering with longtime friend and rival Wawrinka.
Djokovic entered
Wimbledon as the #12 seed. He defeated
Tennys Sandgren,
Horacio Zeballos,
Kyle Edmund,
Karen Khachanov, and
Kei Nishikori to reach the semifinals, where he faced long-time rival
Rafael Nadal. Djokovic defeated Nadal 10–8 in the fifth set in a 5-hour, 17-minute match, spread over two days. This match became the second-longest semifinal in Wimbledon history, second only to the match between
Kevin Anderson and
John Isner held earlier on the same day. With this win, Djokovic reached his first major final since the
2016 US Open.
[219] He claimed his fourth Wimbledon title and 13th major title overall by defeating Anderson in straight sets after 2 hours and 18 minutes, winning the third set in a tiebreak after saving five set points throughout the set. With this win, he rose 11 ranking spots and re-entered the top 10 for the first time since October 2017.
[220]
After a triumphant grass season, Djokovic started his North American hardcourt swing with a third round showing at the
Rogers Cup, losing against eventual runner-up
Stefanos Tsitsipas in a 2-hour, 16-minute three-setter. Afterwards, he returned to play the
Cincinnati Masters for the first time in three years. In an event plagued by suspended play due to rain, Djokovic defeated defending champion
Grigor Dimitrov in the third round and
Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals back to back in three sets. Djokovic went on to defeat
Marin Cilic in the semifinals in a fourth consecutive three set match, setting up his sixth appearance at the finals of the tournament and fourth final against seven-time champion
Roger Federer. Although Federer was riding a streak of 100 consecutive holds of serve at the tournament,
[221] Djokovic went on to break his serve three times and win his first Cincinnati Masters title convincingly in straight sets. With this victory, Djokovic became the first (and, as of 2019, only) player in tennis history to complete the career Golden Masters—a feat achieved by winning all nine ATP Masters 1000 events at least once in one's career.
[222]
Djokovic was the #6 seed entering the
US Open. This was his first appearance at the US Open since the 2016 final. He defeated
Márton Fucsovics,
Tennys Sandgren,
Richard Gasquet, and
João Sousa to reach the quarterfinals, where he was expected to face
Roger Federer; however, Federer was upset by
John Millman, who Djokovic then defeated in straight sets. Djokovic thus advanced to his eleventh US Open semifinal in as many appearances. He overcame
Kei Nishikori in straight sets to reach his eighth US Open final, where he faced #3 seed
Juan Martín del Potro. He defeated del Potro in straight sets to win his third US Open title and second Grand Slam title of the year. This win returned him to the top 3 in the world rankings for the first time since the 2017 French Open.
[223]
At the
ATP Finals, Djokovic was seeded first, and drawn in Group
Guga Kuerten. With the withdrawal of
Rafael Nadal from the event, Djokovic was guaranteed a fifth year-end number one ranking. In the round robin stage, he dominated his opponents, defeating
Alexander Zverev,
Marin Čilić, and
John Isner without dropping a set. He advanced to the semifinals, where he decisively defeated
Kevin Anderson in straight sets to reach his seventh final at the tournament, and his sixth in as many appearances, where he faced
Alexander Zverev. He was upset by Zverev in straight sets.
[227] Nonetheless, his performance at the ATP Finals saw him secure an almost 1,600 point lead over no. 2 ranked Nadal. At the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, he scored victories over Karen Khachanov & Kevin Anderson to win the title. He ended the year with 9,045 points.
2019: 7th Australian Open title and 5th Wimbledon title
He competed in the
French Open, reaching the semifinals without dropping a set and recording wins over
Hubert Hurkacz,
Henri Laaksonen,
Salvatore Caruso,
Jan-Lennard Struff, and fifth seed
Alexander Zverev. His fourth round win over Struff made him the first man to reach 10 consecutive quarterfinals at Roland Garros. In the semifinals, he faced 2018 finalist
Dominic Thiem, who defeated Djokovic in a four-hour, five-set match that was interrupted by rain multiple times and stretched across two days. This ended his 26-match winning streak in major tournaments and brought his search for a second Nole Slam to an end.
[236]
At
Wimbledon, he won his sixteenth Grand Slam, defending his title to win the tournament for a fifth time by defeating Roger Federer in an epic five set
final that lasted four hours and fifty seven minutes, the longest in Wimbledon history. Djokovic saved two championship points in the fifth set en route to winning the title and the match also marked the first time a fifth set tiebreak was played in the men's singles of Wimbledon at 12 games all.
[237][238] Djokovic then played at the
2019 Cincinnati Open as the defending champion and reached the semifinal where he lost to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev in three sets.
[239] At the
2019 US Open, Djokovic was unable to defend his title,
falling to Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round, while down two sets and a break before retiring due to injury. The defeat prevented Djokovic from winning three of the four Grand Slam events that year, a feat that he achieved in 2011 and 2015.
[240] In October 2019, Djokovic defeated
John Millman in straight sets to win the
Japan Open.
[241] At the
Shanghai Masters, Djokovic reached the quarterfinal stage, but lost to
Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets.
[242] In November 2019, Djokovic reached final of
Paris Masters after defeating
Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets.
[243] In the final, Djokovic claimed his fifth title in Paris Masters after a two set win over Canadian young star Denis Shapovalov.
[244] Djokovic then played in the Björn Borg group at the
2019 ATP Finals but was eliminated in the round robin stage after a straight-sets win over
Matteo Berrettini, a three-set loss to Dominic Thiem and a straight sets defeat to Federer (his first loss to Federer since 2015).
[245]
2020: ATP Cup champion, 8th Australian Open title
At the
2020 ATP Cup, Djokovic helped Serbia win its first title by scoring six victories including wins over Medvedev in the semifinal and Nadal in the final.
[246] At the
2020 Australian Open, he defeated long time rival Roger Federer in straight sets en route to the final where he defeated three-time grand slam runner-up
Dominic Thiem in five sets. This is Djokovic's 8th win at the Australian Open, making him the first Open Era male player to win Grand Slam titles in three different decades.
[247] For his 17th Grand Slam win he received 2.5 Million Euro as prize money.
[248] Djokovic won the title at
Dubai Tennis Championships fifth time, defeating
Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.
[249][250]
Rivalries
Djokovic vs. Nadal
Novak Djokovic and
Rafael Nadal have met 55 times on the tennis court, an Open Era record for head-to-head meetings between male players,
[251] and Djokovic leads 29–26.
[252][253] Djokovic leads on hard courts 20–7, while Nadal leads on clay 17–7, and they are tied on grass 2–2.
[254] This rivalry is listed as the third greatest rivalry in the last decade by ATPworldtour.com.
[255] Djokovic is the first player to have at least ten match wins against Nadal and the only person to defeat Nadal seven times consecutively (which he did twice).
[256] The two share the record for the longest Grand Slam final match ever played (5 hours and 53 minutes), which was the 2012 Australian Open final.
[257]
In the 2011 Wimbledon final, Djokovic won in four sets, which was his first victory over Nadal in a Major.
[258] By doing so, he became the only person other than Federer to defeat Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament final. Djokovic also defeated Nadal in the 2011 US Open Final to capture his third major title of the year and fourth overall. By beating Nadal, Djokovic became the second player to defeat Nadal in more than one Grand Slam final (the other being Federer), and the first player to beat Nadal in a Slam final on a surface other than grass. In 2012, Djokovic defeated Nadal in the Australian Open final which made Nadal the first player to lose in three consecutive Grand Slam finals.
At the
2012 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in April, Nadal finally beat Djokovic for the first time since November 2010. They had met in seven finals from January 2011 to January 2012, all of which Djokovic won. Nadal again defeated Djokovic in the final of the Rome Masters tournament.
At the
2012 French Open, Djokovic faced Nadal in the final. For the second time in tennis history, two tennis players played four consecutive Grand Slams finals against each other. They also became the only players in history, except for Venus and Serena Williams, to have faced the same opponent in the finals of each of the four different Grand Slam events. Nadal eventually won in four sets after multiple rain delays that forced the final to be concluded on the following Monday afternoon.
In 2013, Djokovic defeated Nadal in straight sets in the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters to clinch his first title in Monte Carlo. This was his third clay win against Nadal. At the 2013 French Open semifinal, Nadal defeated Djokovic to up his record to 20–15 against Djokovic, and again at the 2013 Rogers Cup semifinal. On 9 September 2013, Djokovic lost to Nadal in the
2013 US Open final in four sets.
[259] In 2014, Djokovic defeated Nadal in 3 sets at the Rome Masters 1000 tournament to claim his 3rd title there.
[260] At the
2014 French Open, they played in the final, with Djokovic again attempting to capture the
Career Grand Slam. Nadal won in four sets to capture the French Open for the ninth time.
[261]
At the 2015 French Open, Djokovic finally defeated nine-time champion and five-time consecutive defending champion at the French Open, thus ending Nadal's 39-match win streak at this tournament. He became only the second man in history to have defeated Nadal at the tournament (after
Robin Söderling in 2009), and the first to do so in straight sets.
[262]
At the
2018 Wimbledon Championships, the two faced each other in the semifinals. This match became their second-longest match and just their third five-set meeting, stretching for 5 hours and 17 minutes over two days. Djokovic broke Nadal in the final game of the fifth set to win 10–8, after saving three break points at 7–7 which would have allowed Nadal to serve for the match. This was Nadal's first defeat in the semifinals of a Grand Slam since the
2009 US Open, and his first ever defeat in the semifinals of Wimbledon.
Djokovic vs. Federer
Novak Djokovic and
Roger Federer have faced each other 50 times (not including
one occasion when there was a
walkover in favour of Djokovic), and Djokovic currently leads 27–23. Djokovic leads on hard courts 20–18 as well as grass 3–1, whereas they are split 4–4 on clay.
[264] Djokovic is the only player other than Nadal who has defeated Federer in consecutive Grand Slam tournament matches.
[265] Federer ended Djokovic's 41-match winning start to the 2011 season at the 2011 French Open semi-finals.
[266] However, Federer would lose to Djokovic in the following year in straight sets.
[267] Djokovic played Federer in his first Major final at the 2007 US Open and lost in three sets.
[268]
Djokovic has more wins against Federer than any other player. The two had three encounters at the Australian Open (in 2007, 2008, and 2011), which Federer won in straight sets in 2007 and Djokovic won in straight sets in the other two. The two have met five years in a row at the US Open with Federer triumphant in their first three encounters, while their last two meetings (in 2010 and 2011) were five-set matches in which Djokovic saved two match points before going on to win. In 2012, Djokovic lost to Federer in the Wimbledon semi-final.
[269] Djokovic won the 2012 ATP World Tour Finals by defeating Federer in straight sets in the final.
[270] The two met again during the finals of the
2014 Wimbledon Championships with Djokovic emerging victorious after a five-set match and with the victory reclaiming the No. 1 ranking from Nadal.
[271] Federer withdrew from the
2014 ATP World Tour final and Djokovic successfully defended his title, the first walkover in a final in the tournament's 45-year history.
[272] In the
2015 Wimbledon Championships, despite "an extraordinary second-set tiebreaker in which Federer saved seven set points to level the match", Djokovic went on to claim a four set victory and even the lifetime record between the two players.
[273] The two met again in another Grand Slam final in 2015, this time at the
2015 US Open, where Djokovic defeated Federer in four tight sets to claim his second US Open title and tenth Grand Slam.
The two would also meet in the
2016 Australian Open semi-finals, where Djokovic played virtually flawless tennis in the first two sets to eventually claim a four set victory en route to capturing a record 6th Australian Open and his 11th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic vs. Murray
Djokovic and
Andy Murray have met 36 times with Djokovic leading 25–11.
[275] Djokovic leads 5–1 on clay, 20–8 on hard courts, and Murray leads 2–0 on grass. The two are almost exactly the same age, with Murray being a week older than Djokovic. They went to training camp together, and Murray won the first match they ever played as teenagers. The pair have met 19 times in finals, and Djokovic leads 11–8. Ten of the finals were ATP Masters 1000 finals, and they are tied at 5–5. Their most notable match in this category was a three set thriller at the final of the
2012 Shanghai Masters, in which Murray held five championship point opportunities in the second set; however, Djokovic saved each of them, forcing a deciding set.
[276] He eventually prevailed to win his first Shanghai Masters title, ending Murray's 12–0 winning streak at the event. This, and the three set match
they played in Rome in 2011, were voted the ATP World Tour match of the Year, for each respective season.
[277][278] They have also met in seven Grand Slam tournament finals: The
2011 Australian Open, the
2012 US Open,
[279] the
2013 Australian Open, the
2013 Wimbledon Championships, the
2015 Australian Open, the
2016 Australian Open and most recently, the
2016 French Open. Djokovic has won in Australia four times and won at the French Open,
[280] while it was Murray who emerged the victor at the US Open and Wimbledon.
Djokovic and Murray also played an almost five-hour-long semi-final match in the
2012 Australian Open, which Djokovic won 7–5 in the fifth set after Murray led two sets to one. Murray and Djokovic met again in
2012 at the
London 2012 Olympic Games, with Murray winning in straight sets. The two met in the final of the
2013 Wimbledon Championships, where second seed Murray defeated Djokovic in straight sets, the first time since 2010 that Djokovic had failed to win a set in a Grand Slam match. In the final of the
2015 Paris Masters, Djokovic triumphed in two sets and became the first man to win six Masters tournaments in one season.
[281] At the 2016 Australian Open final, in a rematch of the previous final, Djokovic won in three sets and captured his sixth Australian Open title.
[186]
In the 2016 clay court season, Djokovic and Murray met in the final of the
2016 Mutua Madrid Open, where Djokovic captured his record-breaking 29th Masters 1000 title in three sets. One week later, however, Murray comfortably beat Djokovic in straight sets in the
2016 Internazionali BNL d'Italia final, denying Djokovic his 30th Masters 1000 crown and interrupting his path to becoming the first player to break through the 100 million dollar prize money mark. At the apex of the clay court season, the
2016 French Open, Djokovic and Murray met once again at the final. Despite losing the first set 3–6, Djokovic went on to win the next three sets 6–1, 6–2, 6–4 and claim his maiden
French Open title. This win completed Djokovic's
Career Grand Slam and denied Murray his first French Open title.
[282]
Djokovic vs. Wawrinka
Djokovic and
Stan Wawrinka have met 25 times with Djokovic leading 19–6, however the two have contested numerous close matches, including four five-setters at Grand Slam level.
[283] Wawrinka and Djokovic have played three consecutive Australian Open years, each match going to five sets, and a five-setter in the US Open: in the
2013 Australian Open fourth round, which Djokovic won 12–10 in a fifth set; at the
2013 US Open semi-finals, which Djokovic won 6–4 in a fifth set; and at the
2014 Australian Open quarterfinals, which Wawrinka won 9–7 in a close fifth set. Wawrinka's win broke Djokovic's impressive run of 14 consecutive semi-finals in Grand Slam play, ended a 28-match winning streak, and prevented Djokovic from capturing a record fifth Australian Open crown.
[284] Djokovic got revenge in the
2015 Australian Open, winning 6–0 in the fifth set, but again it went the distance.
[285] At the
2015 French Open final, Wawrinka defeated Djokovic in four sets to claim his second major title. In 2015, Djokovic defeated Wawrinka at the
Paris Masters.
[286] At the
2016 US Open, Wawrinka beat Djokovic in a Grand Slam final for the second time. Suffering from a foot injury for the latter stages of the match, Djokovic lost in four sets. He did not attribute his loss to the injury, but rather to Wawrinka's courageous play at decisive moments in the match.
[287] Contrary to most high-profile rivalries, they have played doubles together.
[288]
Despite Djokovic's 19–6 overall record against Wawrinka, Wawrinka leads Djokovic 2–0 in Grand Slam finals and 3–2 in all
ATP finals.
[289] During Djokovic's run of eight appearances at Grand Slam finals from
2014 Wimbledon through the 2016 US Open, his only two losses came at the hands of Wawrinka. Moreover, in Djokovic's 21 Grand Slam championship matches, Wawrinka is the only opponent he has not defeated and the only opponent outside the
Big Four who has defeated him.
Djokovic vs. Tsonga
Djokovic and
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have met 24 times with Djokovic leading 18–6.
[290][291] Their first meeting was in the final of the
2008 Australian Open; Djokovic and Tsonga had defeated the top two players, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in their respective semi-finals in straight sets.
[292][293] Djokovic won this match in 4 sets to win his first Grand Slam singles title.
[294]
Their next meeting at a Grand Slam event was again at the
Australian Open, in the 2010 quarterfinals, exactly two years to the day since Djokovic defeated Tsonga to win his first Grand Slam singles title. However, this time it was Tsonga who prevailed, winning in five sets after Djokovic fell ill during the match.
[295] It would be another year-and-a-half until they met again, with the stakes even higher – in the semi-finals at
Wimbledon in 2011, with the winner advancing to his first Wimbledon final. It was their first meeting on grass, and Djokovic prevailed in four sets to advance to his first Wimbledon final,
[296] and in the process ending the seven-and-a-half-year reign of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the top of the rankings. At the
2012 French Open, Djokovic and Tsonga met again in an important quarterfinals match, with Djokovic prevailing in five sets after more than four hours of play.
[297]
They met again two months later at the
Olympics, with Djokovic winning in straight sets in the quarterfinals.
[298] They met in the final of the
2012 China Open, with Djokovic once again victorious in straight sets.
[299] The pair were drawn in the same pool for the
2012 ATP World Tour Finals. Djokovic defeated Tsonga in his first (of three) round robin matches.
[300] It was Djokovic's fifth win over Tsonga in 2012.
Their most recent Grand Slam tournament meeting was in the second round of the
2019 Australian Open.
[301] Djokovic defeated Tsonga in straight sets.
Djokovic vs. del Potro
Djokovic and
Juan Martín del Potro have met 20 times with Djokovic leading 16–4.
[302] Djokovic won their first four meetings, before back to back victories for del Potro at the 2011 Davis Cup and their Bronze medal match at the
2012 Summer Olympics in straight sets. However, in
2013, Djokovic got the upper hand on the rivalry again and won two of the most important matches between them to date; an epic five-setter at the
2013 Wimbledon Championships semifinals which was the longest Wimbledon semifinal at the time,
[303] and a thrilling three-setter at the
2013 Shanghai Masters final. In the same year, del Potro defeated Djokovic en route to his second
Masters 1000 final, at the
2013 Indian Wells Masters, where he lost to Nadal. Del Potro upset Djokovic in the first round at the
2016 Olympics in
Rio en route to the final, where he lost to Murray. Djokovic defeated del Potro in three close sets in the final of the
2018 US Open, which was the first grand slam final for del Potro since his victory at the
2009 US Open.
Place among the all-time greats
Djokovic is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
[304] Following his tremendous success in the 2011 season, he began to feature on all-time greatest lists and, in late 2011,
Rod Laver listed Djokovic number six in his top ten male players of the Open Era. According to
Tim Henman's June 2012 statement, Djokovic is "probably a top eight player in tennis history".
[305] Andre Agassi stated in September 2012 that Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic "may very well be the greatest three players to ever play tennis".
[306] In March 2012, contemporary competitor
Andy Murray described Djokovic as 'one of the greatest players ever'.
[307] Following the
2013 US Open, in his September 2013 men's greatest players of all-time list,
International Business Times' writer Jason Le Miere put the then six-time Grand Slam-winning Serb in seventh place, behind Federer, Nadal, Sampras, Laver, Borg, and Agassi.
[308] In January 2014, ESPN writer Howard Bryant called him 'arguably the best pure tennis player in the world'.
[309]
In April 2015, Henman offered another comment on Djokovic's standing among the all-time greats, saying "it's only a matter of time before he is considered alongside Federer and Nadal as one of the greatest players of all time".
[310] Having proclaimed him "one of the all-time greats" in November 2014,
[311] John McEnroe put Djokovic in all-time top five following his
2015 Wimbledon win, Djokovic's ninth Grand Slam tournament title: "My top four are Laver, Sampras, Roger and Nadal but Novak is at number five and rising".
[312][313] Andrew Castle stated in January 2016 that Djokovic is "undoubtedly moving towards being considered the sport's all-time greatest player".
[314] In June 2016, a panel of more than forty
ESPN tennis analysts ranked Djokovic as number eight on their top twenty all-time combined list of both male and female tennis players; he was number five among the males, behind Federer, Laver, Sampras, and Borg.
[315] Rod Laver said in 2016 that Djokovic was tied with Federer as the best player of all time.
[316] In February 2018, Djokovic got placed No. 5 by
Tennis.com in their list of 50 greatest male players of the Open era, behind Federer, Laver, Nadal, and Sampras.
[317] In February 2019, WTA legends
Chris Evert and
Lindsay Davenport said Djokovic will break the record for most grand slam titles won in history.
[318]
Some observers, tennis players and coaches describe Djokovic as the greatest of all time because he won the trophies with victories against the top players and the biggest rivals in one of the strongest eras of tennis.
[319][320][321][322][323][322] Currently, Djokovic leads the head-to-head record against all members of the
Big Four and he has highest number of Slams won beating Big Four member en route.
[324][320][325] Furthermore, he won on average higher-ranked players on the way to the Grand Slam trophies then Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
[326] Pat Cash emphasized that Djokovic is one of two players who beat Rafael Nadal at the
French Open, which he considers to be „the biggest challenge in tennis".
[321] Richard Krajicek and
The Roar, sports opinion website, pointed out that Djokovic should be considered for the greatest player of all time because he is the only one among his greatest rivals who won four Grand Slams in a row.
[327][328][329]
Djokovic is widely considered to be one of the greatest
returners in the history of the sport,
[330] an accolade given to him even by
Andre Agassi, who was considered to be the best returner ever. Though staying clear of best ever conversations,
[331] tennis coach
Nick Bollettieri has continually been praising Djokovic as the "most complete player ever"
[332][333] and the "most perfect player of all time":
[334]
When you look at match players in the history of tennis, I don't believe that anybody can equal everything on the court that Djokovic does. I don't think you can find a weakness in his game. His movement, personality, his return of serve, his serve, excellent touch, not hesitant in coming to the net, great serve. Over all, almost every player has a downfall; to me he doesn't have one. He's perhaps the best put-together player that I've seen over 60 years.
[335]
Tennis pundits have classified many of Djokovic's matches as some of the greatest contests ever, with the
2012 Australian Open final being considered one of the greatest matches ever seen.
[336][337] Some longtime analysts claim that the
Djokovic–Nadal rivalry ranks as the best rivalry in tennis history primarily because of the quality of matches they produce.
[338]
Playing style and equipment
Djokovic is an
aggressive baseline player.
[345] His groundstrokes from both wings are consistent, deep, and penetrating. His backhand is widely regarded as one of the best in today's game, due to its effectiveness on both sides of the court. His best shot is his backhand down the line, with great pace and precision. He is also known as one of the greatest movers on the court with high agility, court coverage and defensive ability, which allows him to hit winners from seemingly defensive positions. After great technical difficulties during the 2009 season (coinciding with his switch to the Head racket series), his
serve is one of his major weapons again, winning him many free points; his first serve is typically hit flat, while he prefers to slice and kick his second serves wide.
[345]
Djokovic's return of serve is a powerful weapon for him, with which he can be both offensive and defensive. Djokovic is rarely aced because of his flexibility, length and balance. Djokovic is highly efficient off both the forehand and backhand return, often getting the return in play deep with pace, neutralizing the advantage the server usually has in a point.
John McEnroe considers Djokovic to be the greatest returner of serve in the history of the men's game. Occasionally, Djokovic employs a well-disguised backhand underspin
drop shot and sliced backhand. His smash is considered to be one of his biggest weaknesses, being prone to making mistakes on the shot in big moments such as the 2008 Olympics.
I had a big privilege and honour to meet personally today Mr.
Laver, and he is one of the biggest, and greatest players ever to play the game, thank you for staying this late, sir, thank you ... even though it would actually be better if we played a couple times serve and volley, but we don't know to play ... we are mostly around here [points to the area near the baseline], we are running, you know, around the baseline ...
Entering the pro circuit, Djokovic used the
Head Liquidmetal Radical, but changed sponsors to
Wilson in 2005. He couldn't find a Wilson racquet he liked, so Wilson agreed to make him a custom racquet to match his previous one with Head.
[347] After the 2008 season, Djokovic re-signed with Head, and debuted a new paint job of the Head YouTek Speed Pro at the 2009
Australian Open. He then switched to the Head YouTek IG Speed (18x20) paint job in 2011, and in 2013, he again updated his paint job to the Head Graphene Speed Pro, which included an extensive promotional campaign.
[348] Djokovic uses a hybrid of Head Natural Gut (gauge 16) in the mains and Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power Rough (gauge 16L) in the crosses. He also uses Head Synthetic Leather Grip as a replacement grip.
[349] In 2012, Djokovic appeared in a television commercial with
Maria Sharapova promoting the use of Head rackets for many techniques such as golf and ten-pin bowling.
[350]
In assessing Djokovic's 2011 season,
Jimmy Connors said that Djokovic gives his opponents problems by playing "a little bit old-school, taking the ball earlier, catching the ball on the rise, (and) driving the ball flat." Connors adds that a lot of the topspin that Djokovic's opponents drive at him comes right into his zone, thus his ability to turn defense into offense well.
[351]
Coaching and personal team
In the period 2004 and 2005, Djokovic was coached by
Dejan Petrovic.
[352] From fall 2005 until June 2006, he was coached by
Riccardo Piatti, who divided his time between the 18-year-old and
Ivan Ljubičić. Player and coach reportedly parted ways over the latter's refusal to work full-time with Djokovic.
[353]
From June 2006 until May 2017, Djokovic was coached by Slovakian former professional tennis player
Marián Vajda. They met for the first time during that year's French Open, after which Vajda was hired to be the 19-year-old's coach. On occasion Djokovic employed additional coaches on part-time basis: in 2007, during the spring hardcourt season, he worked with Australian doubles ace
Mark Woodforde with specific emphasis on volleys and net play while from August 2009 until April 2010 American
Todd Martin joined the coaching team, a period marked by his ill-fated attempt to change Djokovic's serve motion.
[354] From early 2007 until 2017, Djokovic worked with physiotherapist Miljan Amanović, who was previously employed by
Red Star Belgrade, and NBA player
Vladimir Radmanović.
[355]
From the fall 2006, Djokovic had an Israeli fitness coach, Ronen Bega, but the two parted ways during spring 2009.
[356] Djokovic decided to make a change after identifying his conditioning as a weakness in his game following continual losses to Nadal.
[357] In April 2009, ahead of the
Rome Masters, Djokovic hired Austrian Gebhard Phil-Gritsch (formerly worked with
Thomas Muster) to join the team in fitness coach capacity.
[358][359]
In July 2010, before the Davis Cup clash away at Croatia, Djokovic made another addition to his team – nutritionist Igor Četojević who additionally focuses on
Chinese medicine and does
acupuncture.
[360] He allegedly discovered that the tennis player suffers from
gluten intolerance, using
applied kinesiology,
[361][362] and that he cannot eat
gluten, purging it from his diet. It appeared to have worked as Djokovic began feeling stronger, quicker, and much more fit.
[363] He eventually settled on a
vegan diet. He later added the occasional consumption of fish to his dietary regimen. After Djokovic's Wimbledon win in July 2011, Četojević left the team.
[364] A
Wall Street Journal article noted, "He had an otherworldly season in 2011 and has been the world's most consistent player since. His devotion to his diet has only gotten stronger. (In 2016) he opened a vegan restaurant in Monte Carlo, where he lives."
[365]
After retiring from professional tennis in August 2011, Serbian player
Dušan Vemić joined Djokovic's team as assistant coach and hitting partner for Novak. The collaboration ended before the
2013 US Open.
[366]
Six-time major champion and former world No. 1
Boris Becker, who had mostly worked as television pundit for
BBC Sport and
Sky Sports since retiring from playing in 1999, was announced as Djokovic's new head coach in December 2013.
[367] According to Djokovic, the Becker appointment was done with input from the player's existing head coach Marián Vajda who reportedly wanted to spend more time with his family and was looking to have his coaching workload somewhat reduced.
[368] For Becker, in addition to working alongside Vajda, the job entailed special emphasis on Grand Slam tournaments as Djokovic felt he missed out on winning a couple of majors over the previous two seasons due to a lack of mental edge in the final stages of those tournaments.
[369] Becker's first tournament coaching Djokovic was the
2014 Australian Open.
On 5 May 2017, Djokovic confirmed that he had come to a mutual agreement to terminate his coaching relationship with Vajda, as well as Phil-Gritsch and Amanović. In a statement on his website, Djokovic cited the reasons for the personnel shakeup: "Novak and the team members decided to part ways after a detailed analysis of the game, achieved results in the previous period, and also after discussing private plans of each team member. Despite the fantastic cooperation so far, Djokovic felt he needed to make a change, and to introduce new energy in order to raise his level of play."
[370]
On 30 June 2019, Djokovic confirmed that he added former world No. 2 and Wimbledon champion
Goran Ivanišević to his coaching team.
[371]
Off the court
Philanthropy
In 2007, Djokovic founded the Novak Djokovic Foundation. The organization's mission is to help children from disadvantaged communities to grow up and develop in stimulating and safe environments.
[372] The foundation partnered with the
World Bank in August 2015 to promote early childhood education in Serbia.
[373][374][375] His foundation has built 43 schools and supported almost 20,800 children and a thousand families.
[376][377]
Kindergarten in
Jalovik village built by the Novak Djokovic Foundation.
[378]
During the
2014 Balkans floods, he sparked worldwide financial and media support for victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.
[384] After winning the
2014 Rome Masters, Djokovic donated his prize money to the flood victims in Serbia, while his foundation collected another $600,000.
[384][377] Following his
2016 Australian Open victory, Djokovic donated $20,000 to Melbourne City Mission's early childhood education programm to help disadvantaged children.
[385] After the
COVID-19 pandemic spread
to Serbia in March 2020, he and his wife announced that they will donate €1 million for the purchase of ventilators and medical equipment to support hospitals and other medical institutions.
[386] He also made a donation to
Bergamo, one of the
worst-affected province.
[387]
Sponsorships and business ventures
Djokovic endorses Serbian telecommunications company
Telekom Srbija and German nutritional supplement brand FitLine.
[388]
Since turning professional in 2003, Djokovic has been wearing
Adidas clothing. At the end of 2009, Djokovic signed a 10-year deal with the Italian clothing company
Sergio Tacchini after Adidas refused to extend his clothing contract (choosing instead to sign
Andy Murray).
[389] Tacchini doesn't make shoes so Djokovic continued with Adidas as his choice of footwear. His sponsorship contract with Tacchini was incentive heavy, and due to Djokovic's disproportionate success and dominance in 2011, the company fell behind on bonus payments, leading to the termination of the sponsorship contract.
[390][391]
From 2011, Djokovic began to wear custom Red and Blue Adidas Barricade 6.0's shoes, referring to the colours of the Serbian national flag. By April 2012, the Tacchini deal had fallen first short and then apart. At that point, he was set to join forces with
Nike, Inc.,
[392] but instead, on 23 May 2012,
Uniqlo appointed Djokovic as its global brand ambassador. The five-year sponsorship, reportedly worth €8 million per year,
[393] began on 27 May 2012 in Paris' Roland-Garros French Open Tennis Tournament. A year later, Djokovic's long-term footwear deal with Adidas was announced ahead of 2013 French Open.
[394]
In August 2011, Djokovic became the brand ambassador of Swiss watch manufacturer
Audemars Piguet.
[395] Less than a month later, Djokovic signed a sponsorship deal with German car company
Mercedes-Benz.
[396] In March 2012, Djokovic was announced by
Bombardier Aerospace as its latest
Learjet brand ambassador, thus joining the likes of actor and pilot
John Travolta, architect
Frank Gehry, maestro
Valery Gergiev, and classical pianist
Lang Lang.
[397] From January 2014 Djokovic has been endorsing French car manufacturer
Peugeot.
[398] At the same time he entered into an endorsement deal with Japanese watch manufacturer
Seiko,
[399] having just ended his affiliation with their rivals Audemars Piguet.
[400] In early 2015, ahead of the
Australian Open, Djokovic teamed up with Australian banking corporation
ANZ for a social media campaign to raise money for local communities across the Asia Pacific region.
[401][402] At the same time his partnership with
Jacob's Creek, an Australian wine brand owned by
Orlando Wines, was announced in regards to the production and distribution of 'Made By' film series, a documentary style content meant to "show a side of Novak not seen before as he recounts never before told life stories from Belgrade, Serbia, celebrating what has made him the champion he is today".
[403]
Since 2004, the business end of Djokovic's career has been handled by Israeli managers
Amit Naor (former pro tennis player turned sports agent) and Allon Khakshouri, the duo that also had
Marat Safin and
Dinara Safina as their clients. In June 2008, after the duo entered into partnership with CAA Sports, the sports division of Hollywood talent firm
Creative Artists Agency, meaning that the famous company started representing tennis players for the first time,
[404] Djokovic formally signed with
CAA Sports.
[405] After Djokovic's contract with CAA Sports expired during summer 2012, he decided to switch representation, announcing
IMG Worldwide as his new representatives in December 2012.
[406]
On 22 May 2017, Djokovic was unveiled as a brand ambassador of
Lacoste after a five-year partnership with
Uniqlo.
[407]
Investments
In 2005, as Djokovic moved up the tennis rankings, he began venturing into the business world. Most of his activities in the business arena have been channeled through Family Sport, a legal entity in Serbia established and run by members of his immediate family. Registered as a
limited liability company, Family Sport initially focused on
hospitality, specifically the restaurant business, by launching Novak Café & Restaurant, a franchise themed around Djokovic's tennis success. Over time, the company, whose day-to-day operations are mostly handled by Novak's father Srdjan and uncle Goran, expanded its activities into real estate, sports/entertainment event organization, and sports apparel distribution.
[408]
The company launched Novak Café & Restaurant in 2008 in the Belgrade municipality of
Novi Beograd, the flagship location in a
franchised chain of theme café-restaurants. During 2009, two more locations were added—one in
Kragujevac and the other in Belgrade, the city's second, in September at the neighbourhood of
Dorćol overlooking the playing courts of
Serbia Open whose inaugural edition took place several months earlier.
[409] On 16 December 2011 a location in
Novi Sad was opened,
[410] however, it operated just over three years before closing in late March 2015.
[411] Banja Luka in neighbouring
Republika Srpska got its Novak Café & Restaurant location on 16 October 2015 within Hotel Trešnja on Banj hill.
[412][413]
In 2009, the company bought a
250-series ATP tournament known as the
Dutch Open and moved it to Serbia where it was renamed the
Serbia Open. With the help of Belgrade city authorities, the tournament's inaugural edition was held during May 2009 at the city-owned 'Milan Gale Muškatirović' courts, located at an attractive spot in
Dorćol neighbourhood.
[414] The tournament folded in 2012 after four editions and its place in the ATP calendar got taken over by the
Düsseldorf Open.
In May 2015, right after winning his fourth
Rome Masters title, Djokovic launched a line of nutritional food products, called
Djokolife.
[415] On 10 April 2016, while in town for the
Monte-Carlo Masters, Djokovic opened a vegan restaurant called Eqvita in
Monte Carlo.
[416][417][418] The restaurant reportedly closed in March 2019.
[419]
In popular culture
Throughout the latter part of the 2007 season, most notably before Wimbledon and during
US Open, his comedic impressions of fellow contemporary tennis players got a lot of media play.
[420] It began when a
BBC camera crew recorded some footage of the twenty-year-old impersonating
Maria Sharapova,
Rafael Nadal,
Goran Ivanišević, and
Lleyton Hewitt on a practice court at London's
Queen's Club Championships just before Wimbledon. The material — consisting of Djokovic imitating the said players by exaggerating their trademark physical gestures or nervous tics for the entertainment of his coaching team
Marián Vajda and
Mark Woodforde — aired during BBC's coverage of the tournament and subsequently became popular online.
[422] Two months later at the US Open, a phone video shot by Argentine players of Djokovic doing locker room impressions of
Andy Roddick,
Roger Federer,
Filippo Volandri, Nadal, etc. made its way online, becoming viral.
[423] A few days later, after beating
Carlos Moyá in the quarterfinals,
USA Network's on-court interviewer
Michael Barkann asked Djokovic to perform some impressions and the player obliged by doing Sharapova and Nadal to the delight of the crowd.
[424][425][426]
In addition to Novak, the surge of popularity for tennis in the country also centered around three more up-and-coming young players: twenty-year-old
Ana Ivanovic, twenty-two-year-old
Jelena Janković, and twenty-three-year-old
Janko Tipsarević as evidenced in early December 2007 when a sports-entertainment show named NAJJ Srbije (The Best of Serbia), put together in honour of the four players' respective successes in the 2007 season, drew a capacity crowd to Belgrade's Kombank Arena.
[427][428] In May 2008, he was a special guest during the first semi-final of the
Eurovision Song Contest, held in Belgrade that year. He threw a big tennis ball into the crowd, announcing the start of the voting and together with one of the show's co-presenters,
Željko Joksimović, Djokovic sang
Đorđe Marjanović's song "Beograde".
[429]
On 25 June 2011, at the
Serbian National Defense Council's seventieth congress in
Chicago, Djokovic was unanimously awarded the Order of Serbian National Defense in America I class — the highest decoration of the SND. The order was given to the twenty-four-year-old for his merits on the international sport scene and his contributions to the reputation of Serbs and Serbia around the world.
[436] The day after winning his first
Wimbledon title and reaching the
No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career, Djokovic went home to Belgrade for a homecoming celebration in front of the
Serbian National Assembly, an event attended by close to 100,000 people.
[437]
On 28 November 2011, after returning from London where he finished early due to failing to progress out of his round-robin group, Djokovic visited his childhood tennis coach
Jelena Genčić at her Belgrade home, bringing the Wimbledon trophy along.
[438] The meeting, reportedly their first in more than four years, was recorded by two television crews — a Serbian one shooting for
Aleksandar Gajšek's show
Agape on
Studio B television
[439] and an American one from
CBS television network filming material for Djokovic's upcoming piece on
60 Minutes. The next day, 29 November 2011, on invitation from film producer
Avi Lerner, Djokovic was part of the high-budget Hollywood movie production
The Expendables 2 in a cameo playing himself
[440] that was shot in a warehouse in the Bulgarian capital of
Sofia.
[441] However, his bit part was later cut out of the final version of the movie.
[442]
Career statistics
Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Note: Djokovic's quarterfinal match at the 2011 French Open and his second round match at the 2016 US Open were walkovers (so not counted as wins)
Finals: 26 (17 titles, 9 runner-ups)
| Score |
|---|
| Loss | 2007 | US Open | Hard |  Roger Federer | 6–7(4–7), 6–7(2–7), 4–6 |
| Win | 2008 | Australian Open | Hard |  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(7–2) |
| Loss | 2010 | US Open | Hard |  Rafael Nadal | 4–6, 7–5, 4–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 2011 | Australian Open (2) | Hard |  Andy Murray | 6–4, 6–2, 6–3 |
| Win | 2011 | Wimbledon | Grass | Rafael Nadal | 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3 |
| Win | 2011 | US Open | Hard | Rafael Nadal | 6–2, 6–4, 6–7(3–7), 6–1 |
| Win | 2012 | Australian Open (3) | Hard | Rafael Nadal | 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5 |
| Loss | 2012 | French Open | Clay | Rafael Nadal | 4–6, 3–6, 6–2, 5–7 |
| Loss | 2012 | US Open | Hard | Andy Murray | 6–7(10–12), 5–7, 6–2, 6–3, 2–6 |
| Win | 2013 | Australian Open (4) | Hard | Andy Murray | 6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–3), 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2013 | Wimbledon | Grass | Andy Murray | 4–6, 5–7, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2013 | US Open | Hard | Rafael Nadal | 2–6, 6–3, 4–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 2014 | French Open | Clay | Rafael Nadal | 6–3, 5–7, 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 2014 | Wimbledon (2) | Grass | Roger Federer | 6–7(7–9), 6–4, 7–6(7–4), 5–7, 6–4 |
| Win | 2015 | Australian Open (5) | Hard | Andy Murray | 7–6(7–5), 6–7(4–7), 6–3, 6–0 |
| Loss | 2015 | French Open | Clay | Stan Wawrinka | 6–4, 4–6, 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 2015 | Wimbledon (3) | Grass | Roger Federer | 7–6(7–1), 6–7(10–12), 6–4, 6–3 |
| Win | 2015 | US Open (2) | Hard | Roger Federer | 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 2016 | Australian Open (6) | Hard | Andy Murray | 6–1, 7–5, 7–6(7–3) |
| Win | 2016 | French Open | Clay | Andy Murray | 3–6, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2016 | US Open | Hard | Stan Wawrinka | 7–6(7–1), 4–6, 5–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 2018 | Wimbledon (4) | Grass |  Kevin Anderson | 6–2, 6–2, 7–6(7–3) |
| Win | 2018 | US Open (3) | Hard |  Juan Martín del Potro | 6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–3 |
| Win | 2019 | Australian Open (7) | Hard | Rafael Nadal | 6–3, 6–2, 6–3 |
| Win | 2019 | Wimbledon (5) | Grass | Roger Federer | 7–6(7–5), 1–6, 7–6(7–4), 4–6, 13–12(7–3) |
| Win | 2020 | Australian Open (8) | Hard |  Dominic Thiem | 6–4, 4–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
Year–End Championships performance timeline
Finals: 7 (5 titles, 2 runner-ups)
Records
All-time tournament records
| Event | Since | Record accomplished | Players matched |
|---|
| ATP Rankings | 1973 | Highest number of points accrued as world No.1 (16,950) | Stands alone |
| Grand Slams | 1978 | Holding all four Major titles on 3 different surfaces at once[b] | Stands alone |
| Grand Slams | 1877 | Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam | Don Budge |
| Grand Slams | 1978 | 11 hardcourt Major titles | Roger Federer |
| Grand Slams | 1978 | 16 hardcourt Major finals | Stands alone |
| Grand Slams | 1877 | 3 streaks of 3+ consecutive titles | Stands alone |
| Grand Slams | 1877 | 3+ consecutive finals at each Grand Slam | Stands alone |
| Grand Slams | 1905 | 8 Australian Open men's singles titles | Stands alone |
| Grand Slams | 1877 | 2 titles after saving one or more match points | Rod Laver |
| Grand Slams | 1877 | Played longest final in history at 3 Majors[c] | Stands alone |
| ATP Tour | 1970 | Holding all four Grand Slams and Year-End Championship at once | Stands alone |
| ATP Tour | 1970 | Elite Titles Sweep[d] (14/14 Top-tier tournaments won) | Stands alone |
| ATP Tour | 1970 | 56 Top-tier tournaments won (Elite Titles) | Stands alone |
| ATP Tour | 1970 | 41 Top-tier hardcourt tournaments won | Stands alone |
| ATP Tour | 1970 | 3+ finals across all Top-tier tournaments | Stands alone |
| ATP Tour | 1970 | 10 Top-tier tournaments won in a season (2015) | Stands alone |
| ATP Tour | 1970 | 18 Top-tier tournament finals in a row | Stands alone |
| ATP Tour | 1970 | 15 straight finals reached in a season (2015) | Stands alone |
| ATP Masters | 1970 | Career Golden Masters[e] | Stands alone |
| ATP Masters | 1970 | 25 hardcourt Masters titles | Stands alone |
| ATP Masters | 1970 | 6 titles won in a single season (2015) | Stands alone |
| ATP Masters | 1970 | 39 match wins in a single season (2015) | Stands alone |
| ATP Masters | 1990 | 28+ match wins at all 9 Masters | Stands alone |
Open Era records
- These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis and in ATP Tour Masters 1000 series since 1990.
- Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.
| showTime span | Selected Grand Slam tournament records | Players matched |
|---|
| showGrand Slam tournaments | Time span | Records at each Grand Slam tournament | Players matched |
|---|
| showTime span | Record accomplished | Players matched |
|---|
Professional awards
See also
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