Novak Djokovic has joined an elite list of Tennis players by winning 100 or more matches on all three different surfaces after reaching the Wimbledon 2021 semi-final.
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Novak Djokovic entered the semi-final of Wimbledon 2021 after beating Marton Fucsovics. The Serb is gunning for a Grand Slam in 2021 after winning the Australian and French Open titles. However, in entering the semi-final, Novak Djokovic has created history and entered an elite list of tennis players. Djokovic’s win in Wimbledon was his 100th on grass courts and he became only the third player in history to achieve 100 or more wins on three different surfaces.
Djokovic joins Roger Federer and Andy Murray to have won 100 or matches on hard, grass and clay surfaces. Djokovic has 613 wins on hard courts, 243 on clay courts and 100 on grass. Roger Federer has 783 wins on hard courts, 226 on clay and 192 on grass. Murray, on the other hand, has 455 wins on hard courts, 107 on clay and 110 on grass.
Rafael Nadal is not on the list. The Spaniard has won over 100 games on both clay and hard courts. But his tally in grass is not so great. Although Nadal has two Wimbledon titles to his credit, he has only 71 wins on the surface.
If Djokovic wins in Wimbledon, it will be his sixth title at SW19. This will also put him level with both Federer and Nadal on 20 Grand Slam titles. Djokovic’s 100 wins on Grass are diverse. According to stats by Tennishead.net, Djokovic has 77 wins in Wimbledon. He has 10 in Queens, four in the 2012 London Olympics, four each at Halle and Eastbourne as well as one win at ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
Djokovic’s tally of 100 grasscourt wins is the 12th highest on the surface. Roger Federer, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Andy Murray, Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, Tom Okker, Lleyton Hewitt, Ken Rosewall and John Newcombe have more wins than Djokovic.
However, Djokovic, Federer, and Murray are all trumped by Jimmy Connors, the US Tennis legend. Connors has the most wins in the history of the ATP tournament with 1274 wins. Connors has accumulated at least 100 match wins on not three, but four different surfaces – hardcourt, clay, grass, and carpet. The US Open was played on grass and carpet before switching to the hard-court surface in the late 80s. Connors is the only player besides Federer to have notched up at least 180 match wins on three different surfaces. Federer also has 50 wins on the carpet surface but not many Tennis matches are held in that surface.
The year 2021 has tremendous possibilities for Djokovic. After winning the Australian Open for the ninth time, Djokovic created history by winning the French Open for the second time. The Serb joined Rod Laver and Roy Emerson as the other players in the history of the game to have won all four Grand Slams twice. But, Djokovic and Laver are the only players to have achieved this in the Open Era.
If Djokovic can win Wimbledon, Tokyo Gold, and US Open, then he will become the first male player to have achieved the golden grand slam. Steffi Graf is the only player in history to have achieved the golden grand slam in 1988 when she won the gold medal in Seoul.
