When played at the highest level, tennis often becomes a grueling war of attrition. Players might run up to three or four miles in a series of abrupt wind sprints during a five-set match. Play can last for hours.
Novak Djokovic has allegedly run for more than seven miles to win a tennis match before. It is player against player, with one winner and one loser when the final point has been won. If you are a player, you’ll do whatever it takes to win the match. It is a sport for gladiators at heart, and one player rises above the others as the greatest player of all time.
Novak Djokovic is a superhuman human being. He’s currently tied with Rafael Nadal for the most number of Grand Slams in tennis history, but while Nadal’s best days are behind him, Djokovic is still going strong. He just won the Australian Open for a record tenth time, losing only one set for the entire tournament, in spite of the fact his left leg was heavily wrapped in bandages for most of his matches.
Djokovic had injured his leg playing in Adelaide Invitational as a warmup for the Grand Slam event coming a few weeks later, but still managed to win the tournament. One of his critics, Australian player Alex De Minaur, managed to win only five games in three sets in his fourth round match against Djokovic. After the match De Minaur said, “Everyone has been seeing what’s been happening over the last couple of weeks. It’s the only thing everyone’s been talking about. I was out there against him. Either I’m not a good enough player to expose that [injury], or…it looked good to me.”
The implication was clear. De Minaur thought Djokovic was faking his injury and basically accused him of it. Not only did Djokovic demolish him in the 4th round, he also won his quarter-final, semi-final, and finals matches in similar fashion, totally dominating the opposition. Djokovic’s opponent in the finals match, Stephanos Tsitsipas, was considerably more gracious in his assessment of what had just happened on court: “I think [Novak] is the greatest player who has ever held a tennis racquet. The numbers speak for themselves.”
Indeed, the numbers do speak: Djokovic has won five of his last seven Grand Slam finals. He owns the men’s record for the most weeks ranked as the #1 player in the world for an astonishing 373 weeks. He has won thirty-eight Masters 1000 titles and more prize money than any other player in history. He’s won the ATP Player of the Year award a record seven times.
And now he’s accomplished the most spectacular feat of his storied career–he just won the Australian Open with only one good leg, while losing only one set during the entire tournament. In an interview conducted shortly after play ended, tournament director Craig Tiley said, “This guy, I did see, he had a three-centimeter tear in his hammy. The doctors are going to tell you the truth. I think there was a lot of speculation as to whether this was true or not. It’s hard to believe that someone can do what [Djokovic did] with those types of injuries. But he’s remarkable.”
No sir, Mr. Tiley, I must respectfully disagree. Novak Djokovic is Superman.
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