According to coach Goran Ivanišević, Novak Djokovic has set himself the goal of winning 30 Grand Slam titles. But, as is well known, his travel to the venues of the big four tournaments is now considerably complicated by his rejection of vaccination.
Instead of defending his title at the Australian Open, he was deported by his opponents at the beginning of the year. His absence was used by Nadal, who subsequently added another one to his unexpected triumph in Melbourne in the spring in his clay kingdom at Roland Garros. And the Serb once again got into the role of the chaser in the historical order of Grand Slam titles.
At Wimbledon, the Spaniard narrowed his lead again to the difference of one title, but now he is in danger of being sidelined again at the upcoming US Open due to a failed vaccination against the coronavirus.
The measures against the coronavirus and the Serbian reluctance to follow them in the final can have a significant influence on the history.
In any case, it now seems that Roger Federer, who has been absent from the courts for a long time, will find it difficult to compete with two younger rivals again.
“But this story is not yet decided. The solution will come only when all three end their careers,” Lendl reflected in an interview for Croatian television during the legends tournament in Pula.
“At the moment it seems like Roger is out of the game because he hasn’t played in a long time and he’s the oldest of the three. It’s fascinating to watch this tug-of-war. And that’s both for fans and for people from inside the tennis world,” the former Czechoslovak representative praises the golden era of tennis, which still doesn’t end.
He only regrets the non-tennis aspects just mentioned, which now speak to the unique rivalry.
“I’m just sorry that this fight is currently affected by politics because of the vaccination issue. I hope we don’t look at it from a distance so that we can’t really be sure who is the best player of all time because of politics,” Lendl worries.
“If Rafa wins just one more title, he will still have the issue of vaccinations and the fact that Novak could not play some tournaments on the table. And I don’t think that’s fair. I hope that one of them will have a clear lead in the end and win three or four more titles. I don’t care who it will be, I don’t have a favorite,” added the famous native of Ostrava.
