This US Open, Novak Djokovic will attempt to win all four slams in one season and become the first player to do so since Steffi Graf in 1988.
Djokovic has already held all four slams at once and so we know he can handle the pressure of winning four in a row. There is nothing to indicate, either, that he cannot handle the pressure of winning four in one season. After all, this is the man who beat Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros on his way to winning his second title there and thus winning the double career Grand Slam, a feat neither Federer or Nadal have managed.
But, this is sport, and we don’t know who is going to win, though we can make an educated guess. We’ve been surprised before and we will be surprised again.
So, with that in mind, who, or perhaps what, is going to stop Novak Djokovic at this year’s US Open?
Himself.
Djokovic can get in his own way, as he infamously demonstrated at last year’s Open. He has also been vulnerable when the pressure is on, such as the first time he had a chance to win four in a row at Roland Garros 2015 and went down to Stan Wawrinka, or recently at the Olympics when he was defeated by Sascha Zverev after leading a set and a break. Djokovic is human and he does feel pressure and, once in a blue moon, it gets on top of him.
The crowd
Djokovic has suffered at the hands of hostile crowds before, for example the US Open 2015 final versus Roger Federer. He still won. In fact, it may have even helped him win. This year, he won’t have to worry about Federer. Nor will he also have to be concerned about Nadal.
He will have to face a bunch of underdogs, though, and the crowd will, naturally, be on their side at times. However, his attempt to create his own particular history- the first man to win slams on three surfaces in one season- might get the crowd on his side. Tennis media has really jumped on the history the big 3 are serving up for us every other month, and if that reflects fans’ appetites for it, then it could be Djokovic finds the crowds are on his side this US Open more than they have ever been.
His opponents.
Djokovic’s draw is scheduled to pan out as follows.
Round 1- Holger Rune. Rune is a qualifier, ranked 145, and playing in his first ever Grand slam main draw. He certainly has lots of potential but the storyline of upcoming player in their first slam main draw stopping all time great on his quest for the Calendar Year Grand Slam seems the stuff scriptwriters might even raise their eyebrows at.
Round 2- Tallon Griekspoor or Jan-Lennard Struff. Struff has had a good season and is on the list of players seeds would most like to avoid. Closing out can be a hassle for him at times and Djokovic will know this and exploit it better than anyone if things get that far. Griekspoor is ranked 110 and is 0-1 in slams. Now, that would be a twist in the tale if Griekspoor got the upset.
Round 3-David Goffin (27). Goffin was once quite a force and could trouble Djokovic, beating him in Monte Carlo in 2017. His best days are behind him, it seems, but if Djokovic does start to feel the pressure then Goffin is experienced and consistent enough to push him. This could be the match where we get that Australian Open 2021 Taylor Fritz moment.
Last sixteen- Alex de Minaur (14). The Australian had a good lead in to Wimbledon, but then lost in round one of SW19 and is 1-3 since then. de Minaur is a real fighter and will put his heart into getting the upset and this one could be fun to watch.
Quarter finals- Matteo Berrettini (6). Djokovic and the Italian have had some entertaining tussles at the last two slams. Djokovic gets worked up and vigilant for his battles with the Italian, which is bad news for the Italian.
Semi-final- Sascha Zverev (3). Zverev can beat Djokovic. He’s done it at ATP 1000s, the WTF, the Olympics. But never at a slam. In fact, Zverev has no top ten victories at slams, and that’s despite reaching a final and a couple of semi-finals. That might change this USO with a potential quarter final match versus Pablo Carreno Busta (9) or Denis Shapovalov (7) who have both recently had some of their career best form and who will test Zverev and really ask him if he is ready to make the slam win breakthrough and beat Djokovic on the way.
On a side note, Busta is one of the players Djokovic is not going to want to see in the semi-finals. See the Olympics or USO ’20 for reference.
Final- Daniil Medvdev (2). There were high hopes for Medvedev at the Australian Open, but Djokovic dismissed him in straights.
In the last moth, Medvedev was showing some good form before a hand injury derailed him in Cincy. And if physical concerns were not bad enough, his suspect temperament might also hurt him in a final. In a situation facing a troubled Medvedev, Djokovic would likely balance things out by going into super calm mode and knuckling down, which is when he is really at his most effective.
This is a good draw for someone of Djokovic’s experience and ambition to have on his way to the Grand slam. There are no All Time Great rivals in form. No up and comers with any experience of winning slams. They are competitors with some great achievements but they don’t have the confidence of actually winning slams. Also, while Djokovic has pressure, they will all have the pressure of becoming the person to stop Novak in his tracks. If anyone is going to beat Djokovic, it would probably end up being someone like Roberta Vinci who put a stop to Serena William’s grand slam ambitions in 2016. That Vinci could be Pouille or Musetti in the semis. Someone we did not see coming and has nothing to lose and manages to dial in when the star across the net shows signs of combusting.
This US Open, we can see Novak Djokovic coming and with everything to lose. It is highly likely he walks away with slam no.21 and the career grand slam. It feels to me like it could be the closing of a very lengthy chapter in tennis history. The seal on the Big 3 domination; the final say in the GOAT debate. Not to say that Djokovic won’t win more slams, or that Nadal and Federer won’t come back. But if you were going to end this chapter, then Djokovic, the guy who broke up the Fedal stranglehold, who has struggled with the tennis media and public, and also so infamously and publicly with himself, winning the Calendar Year Grand Slam would be the fitting place to do it.
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