Viktor Troicki first met Novak Djokovic on a tennis court. The Serb remembers blanking Djokovic, giving him a 9-0 win at an under-10 event in Belgrade.
Troicki’s favorite memory of his friend also made it to the track, some 15 years later on the pro circuit. Djokovic, kicking off a season that would change his career, turned the tables by dispatching his compatriot 6-0, 6-1 at Indian Wells in 2011. The serenity of the California desert contrasted with the NATO bombs that Djokovic and his family fled to Serbia in 1999.
“He kicked my ass and at the net he was furious,” Troicki, who has been retired for 11 months, told ATPTour.com. “I even broke my racket in two. I approached the network to congratulate him. He smiled and told me: ‘Great game, you played very well.’ Obviously he was joking. He made me laugh, that’s something good friends do.”
“We played a lot of matches and I didn’t have much success against him,” Troicki laughed.
But Troicki isn’t the only one to suffer defeat at the hands of the 37-time ATP Masters 1000 champion, who today became only the fifth man in the Open Era to reach 1,000 wins.
Asked by ATPTour.com for his first thoughts on Djokovic achieving that extremely rare milestone, commentator Robbie Koenig said:
“It’s amazing what he’s done, and the kind of opposition he’s encountered, in the (Roger) Federer-(Rafael) Nadal era.”
Today’s was added to Djokovic’s extensive and distinguished list of records, such as, from 2015-2016, becoming the first male player since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four consecutive majors and the first in the Open Era to win each. one of the greats at least twice.
Those feats achieved at Roland Garros accounted for his 730th and 961th victories.
No man has been at No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings longer (369 weeks) or completed the Career Golden Masters (winning all nine Masters 1000 tournaments), which, for good measure, he has done twice. That includes winning the ‘Sunshine Double’ (conquering Indian Wells and Miami in the same year) four times. And let’s not forget his five Nitto ATP Finals titles.
Djokovic joined GOAT candidates Federer and Nadal to record 1,000 wins. But before the rise of the Big-3, nothing like this had been done in men’s tennis since Ivan Lendl in 1992. Lendl’s rival Jimmy Connors became the founder and only other member of the elite club in 1984.
That Djokovic sits in the same class as Connors and Lendl is appropriate. Connors possessed a two-handed backhand and return that was praised by generations, with Djokovic rising to the same heights.
In 2018, at the Nitto ATP Finals, John Isner, second only to Ivo Karlovic in aces in his career, defined Djokovic as “No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3” of the best challengers he has played against.
It takes more than one hit to get into the GOAT debate, but Djokovic’s candidacy would be his famous backhand down the line.
Indeed, that backhand received special praise from Federer on the eve of his thrilling Wimbledon in 2019.
“If I think about Novak, one thing that stands out to me is his jump back and left,” said Federer, outscored in five sets two days later. “How he is capable of defending on that side, which I think has given him the chance to win numerous games and trophies. He does it better than anyone.”
However, one must veer in another direction, away from his staunch on-court weaponry, to account for Djokovic’s resilience in matches, as well as his prolific 19-year professional career.
Lendl became invincible, at times, after changing his high-cholesterol diet, teaming up with a sports psychologist and nutritionist, and prioritizing his fitness. The Czech-born American was a pioneer. Djokovic could be the modern equivalent of him.
Modifying his own eating habits reversed his luck. Eliminating gluten ahead of the 2011 season, a time when eating “gluten-free” apparently wasn’t as common as it is today, Djokovic 2.0 came and stayed. “It’s easy to do it for nine months when you play well,” Koenig said. “But to do it for 12 years like he’s been doing it, I can’t imagine the mental discipline that goes into.”
Stagnating at a major after opening his account at the 2008 Australian Open, his impressive 2011 season earned him three Grand Slam titles, 10 titles in total and a season-opening 41-match winning streak with eight withdrawn in matches before 2011, the number dropped to five thereafter despite an increased workload.
“I had to learn to listen to my body,” Djokovic, whose family ironically operated a pizza restaurant in the Serbian ski resort of Kopaonik, wrote in 2014 in his own book, Serve, Djokovic.
“Once I did, everything changed. You could call it magic. It felt like magic.”
For his mental game, not to mention wellness, he meditates, practices yoga, Pilates (has there ever been a male champion as flexible as the almost 35-year-old Serb?) and mindful breathing. The latter helped alleviate his allergy problems, dovetailing with dietary adjustments.
Given all his mental training, when Djokovic said after the 2019 Wimbledon final that he tried to imagine Federer’s supporters shouting his name instead of their rival’s, it was not a throwaway humorous line.
Djokovic did not commit an unforced error in any of the three tiebreaks, prevailing 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12(3) in five hours to add the fifth of his six crowns at SW19.
Also, it marked the third time Djokovic had beaten Federer at a Grand Slam after saving match points.
Djokovic has favorable head-to-head records against Federer and Nadal, accounting for 57 of the 1,000 wins. The only player to beat them at least twice in their respective strongholds at Roland Garros and Wimbledon? Djokovic.
“On a technical level, when Djokovic has been at the top of his game, I must say that I have faced an invincible player,” Nadal admitted in 2017.
From 2011 to 2021, Djokovic’s record of 146-39 in deciding sets, a 79% win rate, is further testament to his ability to outplay opponents when the tension reaches its peak.
Djokovic once said that he could play until he was 40 years old. With his meticulous methods and skills, he should have a better chance than most to get there and increase the number of wins.
“Lasting this long and winning title after title, that’s something only great champions do in any sport,” Troicki said. “I consider him one of the best athletes in the world. I am proud to know him.”
