Former world No.1 doubles player Todd Woodbridge believes Novak Djokovic poses a serious threat to Roger Federer’s record of the most grand slam titles won.
Djokovic defeated Juan Martin del Potro in the final of the US Open on Sunday. Clinching his 14th major title to draw level with his idol Pete Sampras. The Serbian has won two consecutive grand slams following his triumph at the Wimbledon Championships. He is only the eighth man in the Open Era to win both of those tournaments within the same season.
“Pete Sampras is one of the biggest legends ever to play the game. He was my childhood idol. He was someone I was looking up to.” Djokovic told reporters in New York.
“There is a lot of significance of me being now shoulder to shoulder in terms of Grand Slam wins with him. It’s truly incredible when you think about it. I watched him win one of his first Wimbledon championships, and I grew up playing and thinking that one day I’ll be able to do what he does. To actually be here, it’s a dream come true.”
Overall, Djokovic is still six major titles behind Federer’s record of 20. However the Serbian is six years younger than the 37-year-old. Also in the race is current world No.1 Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard has 17 major titles to his name with 11 of those occurring at the French Open.
Weighing in on the discussion, Woodbridge thinks the rapid improvement in Djokovic’s game in recent months has positioned him to once again pose a serious threat at all of the majors. Last year, Djokovic missed six months of the tour due to a serious elbow injury. After what was a roller coaster start to his comeback, which included undergoing minor surgery, he has risen back to the top of the sport. Winning 26 out of 28 matches played since his loss at the French Open.
“He’s 31, so he’s got three, four more years, given what (Federer and Rafael Nadal) have been doing. There’s at least five slams in there for him,” Woodbridge said about Djokovic during an interview with Tennismash.
“Now that’s a long way off, but that was the quality that I saw in his last couple of majors.
“His ball-striking was mediocre (in Australia), but all of a sudden he’s finding the centre of the racquet. His serving has really improved; the big-point serving and consistency. There were a couple of points (in the US Open final) I saw him move forward and hit a couple of volleys and I thought, ‘oh that was a good volley, like a really good volley, under pressure.”
Djokovic’s resurgence has been praised by Woodbridge, who believe it has been enhanced by the return of coach Marian Vajda at the start of the clay-court season. During his first six tournaments of 2018, Djokovic only won back-to-back matches twice.
“What I was watching at the Australian Open, it looked like he was done,” Woodbridge said.
“He looked like a guy who had achieved just about everything, had really fallen off and was playing some pretty ordinary tennis by everybody’s measure.
“To turn it back around and be playing almost as good as he ever has, I think he has a real opportunity to pass (Federer) and be the all-time leader in Grand Slams.”
Djokovic is currently ranked sixth in the ATP rankings. He is set to return to action next month at the Shanghai Masters in China.
