Novak Djokovic pulls off a remarkable year — Here’s why

Novak Djokovic’s achievements keep piling up, and next month he turns 39.

Djokovic has collected every major title in the sport, from his 24 Grand Slam wins to an Olympic gold medal.

Many, including Rafael Nadal, have said that Djokovic is the greatest tennis player of all time.

Former Grand Slam doubles champion Patrick McEnroe shares this opinion and says that Djokovic has done something ‘remarkable’ this year.

Patrick McEnroe ranks Novak Djokovic above Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

Speaking on the Spout Podcast, McEnroe was asked if he felt Djokovic’s career accomplishments were enough to call him the greatest of all time.

McEnroe said he believes so, highlighting Djokovic’s win over Sinner at this year’s Australian Open as one of the standout moments of his career and acknowledging his ability to keep pace with the ATP Tour’s two top players.

“To me it does, on the male side,” said McEnroe. “Obviously you could argue for Serena Williams on the women’s side, Steffi Graf who finished on 22, and she didn’t play as long as either Serena or Novak Djokovic. So if she had played another five years, who knows how many she would have had, but longevity is part of it.

“I would put Djokovic at the top of the list, because of what you mentioned. The head-to-head against [Roger] Federer and [Rafael] Nadal, and the scope of his wins. Not just in the majors, total majors obviously counts, but he has also won Masters series events…and he has also won the most if you combine the different surfaces. Indoors, clay courts, hard courts and grass courts at Wimbledon of course.

“So, he’s got the best scope of wins, and the fact of the matter is he’s about to turn 39 and he’s still playing at the top of the game. Just beat Sinner in Australia, which to me is one of his greatest wins ever, even though he ended up losing the next match to [Carlos] Alcaraz in the final.

“You talk about passion and doing it, because these two guys have dominated him the last couple years. These two young bucks coming along and he still has the passion to go back to work and try to say, ‘I’m going to find a way to keep competing with Sinner and Alcaraz’. Pretty remarkable!”

Novak Djokovic’s record against Sinner and Alcaraz

Djokovic’s win over Sinner at the Australian Open was his first victory over the Italian since 2023, having lost their five previous meetings.

This has closed the gap in their head-to-head to 6-5 in Sinner’s favour, but Djokovic does not have a losing record against Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic led his head-to-head against Alcaraz 5-3, but after losing their two most recent meetings, including the Australian Open final, they are level at 5-5.

The next tournament where Djokovic could play either Sinner or Alcaraz is at the Madrid Open, which he has confirmed to play.

However, there are doubts over whether either Sinner or Alcaraz will play in Madrid due to scheduling reasons and a wrist injury, respectively.

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