By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Picture credit score: Pete Staples/USTA
NEW YORK—Novak Djokovic has scaled the game’s summit.
Grand Slam King Djokovic has captured 100 profession championships, held the world No. 1 rating a report 428 weeks and has completed as year-end No. 1 a report eight instances.
The previous skier turned tennis champion is aware of all about navigating the peaks and valleys of the professional tour and is in a novel place to evaluate tennis’ most monumental milestones.
Chatting with the media after his US Open second-round win at present, Djokovic cited two achievements as most large milestones in tennis: attaining world No. 1 and attaining the profession Golden Slam.
Solely 5 singles champion in historical past—Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and reigning Olympic gold-medal champion Djokovic—have received the profession Golden Grand Slam accumulating all 4 main championships plus the Olympic gold medal.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic stated the profession Golden Grand Slam and world No. 1 rating are the 2 paramount achievements in tennis.
“I’d say in all probability the highest two issues can be, yeah, profitable the Profession Slam or Golden Slam, together with the golden medal on the Olympics, and staying No. 1 for a few years,” Djokovic stated after his 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win over American Zachary Svajda on Ashe Stadium. “As a result of, you realize, slams are such an enormous aim of each single participant, they usually take lots of power to be conquered.
“So so that you can be persistently taking part in effectively again and again, to be a contender for No. 1 on this planet, that’s in all probability one in every of, if not the final word problem.
“As a result of it requires a 24/7 consideration to each single element relating to bodily restoration, preparation, psychological coaching, something actually that revolves round a person athlete, as a result of ultimately of the day, it’s a must to do the job your self on the court docket.”
Making use of Djokovic’s Golden Slam normal, you may make a case Steffi Graf owns one of the vital spectacular information in tennis historical past. Graf stands alone as the one participant to win the single-season Golden Slam—capturing all 4 Grand Slam crowns and the Olympic gold medal—a feat she achieved in 1988 when the Seoul Olympics had been performed in September after the US Open. That required Graf to win in New York Metropolis in early September then fly to Korea to strike gold after finishing the calendar Grand Slam.
Whereas Djokovic’s rival, Rafael Nadal, received Olympic gold in each singles and doubles, Serena Williams is the one participant to realize the profession Golden Slam in each singles and doubles. Serena Williams partnered sister Venus Williams to Olympic gold in doubles in 2000 (when Venus Williams received singles gold as effectively), 2008 and 2012 when Serena Williams struck gold in singles and doubles on the London Olympics.
In fact, Djokovic very practically pulled off the calendar Slam in 2021 when he received Australian Open, Wimbledon and Roland Garros then reached the Flushing Meadows remaining the place Daniil Medvedev denied his calendar Grand Slam dream.
