Novak Djokovic is undoubtedly already a tennis player that has achieved what many will describe as GOAT status, meaning he’s one of the greatest of all time. However, in many respects, he’s always talked about to a lesser degree than the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It ultimately means Djokovic has to keep proving himself, with 2023 expected to be another big year.
Djokovic, 35, may be moving towards the end of his career, but he’s still very much at the top of his game. He enters every famous event, such as the Grand Slams, as one of the favourites when checking any of the reputable bookmakers with betting markets on all major tennis competitions, which is no surprise because of his undoubted ability and his haul of tournament victories. And as mentioned above, 2023 is going to be another year where this applies, with Djokovic continuing to cement his GOAT status, but just how will he do it?
Everything, in the main, will come down to Djokovic doing the business at the Grand Slams. When the calendar year went from 2022 to 2023, the Serbian had an outstanding twenty-one Grand Slam titles to his name, having won all of them multiple times. And, at the time of writing, he’s already managed to make it twenty-two Grand Slam titles after winning his tenth Australian Open, in what is the first Grand Slam of the season.
Winning the Australian Open, and being the current world number one, certainly means Djokovic is on the right track if he’s looking to really cement that GOAT status once more across the next twelve months. But, because the Australian Open is the Grand Slam he’s won the most, you could say that Djokovic is going to have to impress in the other major tournaments too before the tennis season is out, and this could prove to be slightly more challenging.
Wimbledon, which is the third Grand Slam of the year, is another tournament where Djokovic has had a lot of success. He’s the defending champion and has been victorious seven times consecutively and the last two times. With a hat trick of titles on the cards, you’d expect him to go well at Wimbledon and light up centre-court once again because he has the ability, know-how and experience.
So, to achieve GOAT status in 2023, it could mean Djokovic has to look more towards the French Open and the US Open, where he’s been successful on fewer occasions. Yes, the Serb was victorious at Roland Garros in 2021, but he’d only won the tournament on one occasion prior to that, in 2016. Djokovic only has three US Open titles to his name, too, so this is a Grand Slam where he’s been significantly less successful over the years.
In reality, Djokovic is already a GOAT, but maybe not the GOAT. And, you do half expect him to win Grand Slams such as the Australian Open and Wimbledon. But, if he was to become more successful in the other two Grand Slams, potentially winning one of or both of the French Open and US Open, he’d be in an even better position to be the GOAT.
