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Djokovic Extends 'Big Titles' Lead With Historic 20th Grand Slam

  • Posted: Jul 11, 2021

Novak Djokovic won a record-tying 20th Grand Slam title on Sunday at Wimbledon, and with his victory against Matteo Berrettini he extended his lead in the ‘Big Titles’ race over Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

The World No. 1 now has 61 ‘Big Titles’, giving himself breathing room ahead of Nadal (57) and Federer (54). A ‘Big Title’ is a trophy at a Grand Slam championship, the Nitto ATP Finals, an ATP Masters 1000 tournament or an Olympic singles gold medal. Djokovic, Nadal and Federer are now tied with 20 Grand Slam trophies each.

The Serbian superstar has now won the first three major championships of the season, and will turn his attention to completing the Calendar-Year Grand Slam at the US Open. The only player in the Open Era to accomplish that feat was Rod Laver in 1969. Nobody since has won the year’s first three majors. 

The 34-year-old is now tied for the lead in two of the ‘Big Titles’ categories: Grand Slams and ATP Masters 1000 crowns. Both Djokovic and Nadal have triumphed 36 times at Masters 1000 events.

Djokovic has the best ‘Big Titles’ win-rate at one title won per 3.3 events played (61/199), while Nadal, who did not compete at Wimbledon, has claimed a ‘Big Title’ for every 3.5 tournaments played at this level (57/197). Only two other players have converted more than once per five events: Roger Federer (4.4, 54/240) and Pete Sampras (4.9, 30/147).

Current and Former Champions’ Big Titles Won (Records Since 1990)

Player Grand Slams Nitto ATP Finals 1000s Total^ (Avg)
Novak Djokovic 20/65 5/13 36/118 61/199 (3.3)
Rafael Nadal 20/62 0/10 36/123 57/197 (3.5)
Roger Federer 20/80 6/17 28/138 54/240 (4.4)
Pete Sampras 14/52 5/11 11/83 30/147 (4.9)
Andre Agassi 8/61 1/13 17/90 27/164 (6.1)
Andy Murray 3/51 1/8 14/100 20/162 (8.1)
Boris Becker* 2/26 2/6 5/51 9/84 (9.3)
Thomas Muster 1/29 0/4 8/53 9/87 (9.7)
Stefan Edberg** 3/28 0/4 4/45 7/79 (11.3)
Gustavo Kuerten 3/33 1/3 5/67 9/105 (11.6)
Jim Courier 4/38 0/4 5/71 9/114 (12.6)
Marcelo Rios 0/26 0/1 5/56 5/84 (16.8)
Marat Safin 2/41 0/3 5/87 7/133 (19)
Michael Chang*** 0/50 0/6 7/86 7/144 (20.6)
Andy Roddick 1/46 0/6 5/75 6/129 (22.5)

^ Includes Olympic Games gold medals and tournament participations
* Becker’s four other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.
** Edberg’s three other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.
*** Chang’s one Grand Slam title came before 1990

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Mektic/Pavic Capture First Grand Slam Title At Wimbledon

  • Posted: Jul 10, 2021

In their first Grand Slam doubles final as a team, top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic sealed the biggest victory of their sterling season on Saturday after taking down Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in four sets to win the Wimbledon doubles trophy.

Mektic and Pavic became the first Croatian players to win the Wimbledon men’s doubles title. They are also the first players from their country to triumph at the All England Club since Goran Ivanisevic’s 2001 victory in singles and Ivan Dodig’s 2019 mixed doubles win with Latisha Chan.

“This is something special, this is by far the best tournament in the world… Especially for me and I think for Nikola also, we all grew up with Goran [Ivanisevic]. It’s been 20 years since he won the Monday final, and this is the first time there is another Croatian winning the trophy,” Pavic said, fighting back tears during the trophy ceremony. “We are very emotional. I had a tough final a few years ago, so I’m super happy and very emotional.”

The Croatian duo have been the most dominant team of the 2021 season, and they already punched their ticket to the Nitto ATP Finals by reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals. Mektic and Pavic teamed up at the start of the year, and they never looked back as they lifted a tour-leading eight trophies leading up to this fortnight, including three at the ATP Masters 1000 level in Miami, Monte-Carlo and Rome. 

The top seeds were tested every step of the way at Wimbledon, having to battle through a tough five-setter to move past eighth seeds Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot in the quarter-finals and a roller-coaster four-set battle against Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury to reach their first Grand Slam final.

Mektic and Pavic made a strong start under the Centre Court roof as they claimed a decisive break at 3-3 to seal the tightly contested opening set against fourth seeds Granollers and Zeballos. They had trouble containing the Spanish and Argentine duo, who didn’t give up any opportunities on their serve in the second set. But the Croatians continued to press, and they earned a double fault on set point to close out the tie-break.

The Hispanic duo raced in front in the third set, breaking early and opening up a 4-0 lead. But Mektic and Pavic bounced back in the fourth, creating four break opportunities across three of their opponent’s service games. With the pressure at a max, the fourth seeds sent a lob long as Mektic and Pavic collapsed to the ground in elation, sealing the victory after two hours and 47 minutes.

“That ball falling long on the last point, that was the best feeling of my life,” Mektic said. “It was an incredible match today again. The last three matches that we played, it was probably the best three matches of my life, the best three matches that I ever participated in.

“We just kept pushing. We just kept telling ourselves, let’s just dig every point, let’s not give up.”

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Granollers and Zeballos were bidding to win their first Grand Slam doubles title – either as individuals or as a team – as well as become the first Spanish and Argentine man, respectively, to win the Wimbledon men’s doubles title.

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