Less than an hour after the French Open final concluded on Sunday, the coach of Novak Djokovic outlined his priorities for the rest of the year and it is clear what is on his mind.
Celebrating the world No.1 winning his 19th Grand Slam title in Paris, Marian Vajda said with little hesitation that his practice for the remainder of the year will be centred around three tournaments – Wimbledon, US Open and the Olympics. Indicating that Djokovic aims to achieve a milestone which no male player in history has done before. Winning each Grand Slam and the Olympics with the same season. In fact, the only person to have achieved this was Stefi Graf back in 1988.
“His goal and our goal is to win the Olympics and then win the Grand Slam. That would be the absolute top of this year,” said Vajda. “But it’s still far away from us. We have to still focus on the next one. But overall he’s set up for this year. His priority is really set up like Wimbledon, Olympics, and the US Open. I think that says it all. His schedule is according to how we practice and prepare for those tournaments.”
Known as the Golden Slam, other players have also achieved the milestone but not within the same year. To be precise 12 players has achieved the accolade since tennis was reintroduced back in the Olympics as an official sport in 1988. In 1984 it featured as a demonstration event.
There has been some doubts over Djokovic’s participation in the Tokyo Games amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He had previously said he would reconsider playing at the event should fans not be allowed to attend. At present, international fans have already been banned but there is a debate about allowing domestic spectators due to the number of cases in the country.
“Everything is possible. In my case I can say that what I’ve been through in my career, in my life, this journey has been terrific so far. I’ve achieved some things that a lot of people thought it would have been not possible for me to achieve,” Djokovic replied when questioned about the possibility of achieving the golden slam.
Although such an achievement will be tough for the 34-year-old given the demanding tennis calendar. Wimbledon will begin in just two weeks. A slightly shorter period than usual as the French Open started seven days later than originally planned due to the pandemic. As it currently stands Djokovic will not be playing a grass event leading up to the next Grand Slam.
“This year we have only two weeks between the first round of Wimbledon and the finals here, which is not ideal because you go from really two completely different surfaces, trying to make that transition as smooth as possible, as quickly and efficiently as possible,” he explained.
“I don’t have an issue to say that I’m going for the title in Wimbledon. I was really happy to know that we are going to play Wimbledon this year, considering we haven’t played it last year.’
“I like the grass. Over the years I think I improved on grass, I adjusted my game. Hopefully I can use this confidence that I have right now into Wimbledon, as well. Then let’s take it from there.”
Should Djokovic achieve the Golden Slam in 2021 he would overtake Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for most major titles ever won by a major player. His tally currently stands at 19 compared to his rivals who are on 20.
Golden Slam achievers
| Athlete | Nation(s) | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andre Agassi | USA | Singles: Australian Open (95, 00, 01, 03), French Open (99), Wimbledon (92), US Open (94, 99), Olympics (96) | ||
| Bob Bryan | USA | Doubles: Australian Open (06-07, 09-11, 13), French Open (03, 13), Wimbledon (06, 11, 13), US Open (05, 08, 10, 12, 14), Olympics (12) | ||
| Mike Bryan | USA | Doubles: Australian Open (06-07, 09-11, 13), French Open (03, 13), Wimbledon (06, 11, 13, 18), US Open (05, 08, 10, 12, 14, 18), Olympics (12) | ||
| Gigi Fernandez | PUR/ USA | Doubles: Australian Open (93-94), French Open (91-95, 97), Wimbledon (92-94, 97), US Open (88, 90, 92, 95-96), Olympics (92, 96) | ||
| Steffi Graf | GER | Singles: Australian Open (88-90, 94), French Open (87-88, 93, 95-96, 99), Wimbledon (88-89, 91-93, 95-96), US Open (88-89, 93, 95-96), Olympics (88) | ||
| Rafael Nadal | ESP | Singles: Australian Open (09), French Open (05-08, 10-14, 17-20), Wimbledon (08, 10), US Open (10, 13, 17, 19), Olympics (08) | ||
| Daniel Nestor | CAN | Doubles: Australian Open (02), French Open (07, 10-12), Wimbledon (08-09), US Open (04), Olympics (00) | ||
| Pam Shriver | USA | Doubles: Australian Open (82-85, 87-89), French Open (84-85, 87-88), Wimbledon (81-84, 86), US Open (83-84, 86-87, 91), Olympics (88) | ||
| Serena Williams | USA | Singles: Australian Open (03, 05, 07, 09-10, 15, 17), French Open (02, 13, 15), Wimbledon (02-03, 09-10, 12, 15-16), US Open (99, 02, 08, 12-14), Olympics (12); Doubles: Australian Open (01, 03, 09-10), French Open (99, 10), Wimbledon (00, 02, 08-09, 12, 16), US Open (99, 09), Olympics (00, 2008, 12) | ||
| Venus Williams | USA | Doubles: Australian Open (01, 03, 09-10), French Open (99, 10), Wimbledon (00, 02, 08-09, 12, 16), US Open (99, 09), Olympics (00, 08, 12) | ||
| Todd Woodbridge | AUS | Doubles: Australian Open (92, 97, 01), French Open (00), Wimbledon (93-97, 00, 02-04), US Open (95-96, 03), Olympics (96) | ||
| Mark Woodforde | AUS | Doubles: Australian Open (92, 97), French Open (00), Wimbledon (93-97, 00), US Open (89, 95-96), Olympics (96) |
