Novak Djokovic became the most decorated men’s tennis player in grand slam history with his French Open success on Sunday.
The 23rd major title of his career broke the record he jointly held with Rafael Nadal and here, the PA news agency looks at his record and how he compares to his rivals.
King of the grand slams
Djokovic has won 10 Australian Opens and seven at Wimbledon, with three each now at the French and US Opens.
That makes him the first man ever to win at least three singles titles at all four grand slam tournaments – a measure of his all-round greatness.
Nadal, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson have won each at least twice with Fred Perry, Don Budge, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer the other men with a career slam.
Djokovic’s 10 Australian titles are a record, for the Open era or for a male player – Margaret Court won 11 women’s singles titles, seven of them in the amateur era.
He is the only man other than Nadal, with 14 French Open wins, to reach double figures at a single slam. Federer holds the record of eight at Wimbledon, with no man winning more than seven US Open titles, or five in the Open era.
Djokovic has won six of the last eight major tournaments he has played and three in a row and will head to the next, Wimbledon, as a four-time defending champion – a run dating back to 2018, with the 2020 tournament not being played due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since that wipeout, his only grand slam defeats came to perennial champion Nadal at Roland Garros in the 2022 quarter-final and at the US Open in 2020 – when he was disqualified for hitting a ball girl with a ball – and 2021 when Daniil Medvedev beat him in the final to end his dream of a calendar year grand slam. He is chasing that goal once more this year.
Djokovic has won 88 per cent of his grand slam matches, 348 of 395, and will surely pass 400 matches and 350 wins by the end of the year – more than likely during Wimbledon next month.
The big three
Federer was the first of the modern ‘big three’ to truly push forward the level of elite tennis, winning 16 of his majors by January 2010 when he completed his fourth Australia Open success.
At that point he had reached eight straight finals and at least the semi-final in 23 consecutive slams. He went on to extend his run of quarter-finals to 36, stretching from Wimbledon 2003 to the 2013 French Open.
His last major title came at the 2018 Australian Open, with Djokovic denying him another in the Wimbledon 2019 final before Federer retired last year.
Nadal’s 22 titles have of course been compiled primarily in Paris, with 14 titles from 18 visits. He won nine out of 10 from 2005 to 2014 and five out of six since 2017 before missing this year’s event due to injury.
One of the exceptions came when he withdrew due to injury before his third-round match in 2016, meaning he has lost only three matches at Roland Garros – two to Djokovic, in the 2015 quarter-finals and the 2021 semis and Robin Soderling in 2009’s fourth round – while winning 112.
The Spaniard has four US Open titles and two each at Melbourne and Wimbledon. The 2010 US Open made him the youngest man, aged 24, to complete a career slam.
Djokovic has now surpassed both men on the statistics sheet and with Nadal, 37, battling injury troubles and set to sit out the rest of this season, it seems Djokovic’s longevity and all-round quality will establish him as the consensus best of all time.
Djokovic battles into second round of French Open after Herbert triumph
Novak Djokovic fought off a stern challenge from Pierre-Hugues Hubert to make a successful start to his French Open title defence on Tuesday.
The world number one held off the challenge of the home favourite to win 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, setting him on his way to a potential 25th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic enjoyed a fairly comfortable first set but had to work hard to win the second as Hubert took a more aggressive approach. He steadied in time for a crucial tie-break though, holding his nerve to secure it.
The Serbian regained control in the final set, sealing the win after a double fault from Hubert to set up a second-round tie against Roberto Carballes Baena.
Data Debrief: Djokovic's title defence off to a good start
Djokovic (367) trails only Roger Federer (369) for Men’s Singles match wins at Grand Slam events in the Open Era, and could overtake him with a strong showing at the French Open.
He is now 72-2 in opening round matches at Grand Slam events, winning his past 69 such matches. Djokovic’s last opening round loss came via retirement at the 2011 US Open against Conor Niland.
Alcaraz and Sinner's ability same level as 'Big 4', believes Simon
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have the ability of the 'Big 4' if they can keep up their consistency, former world number six Gilles Simon believes.
Alcaraz won his first grand slam title at the US Open in 2022, becoming the youngest world number one in the history of the ATP rankings at 19 years, four months, and six days, before winning his first Wimbledon title in 2023.
Alcaraz beat Daniil Medvedev to win Indian Wells in March but has since struggled with an arm injury, with his last match before Roland Garros coming in the quarter-final of the Madrid Open on May 1.
He beat J.J. Wolf in straight sets on Sunday to progress to the second round of the French Open, where he will face Jesper De Jong.
Simon, speaking at the Roland-Garros eSeries by Renault tournament, believes in the Spaniard's ability, comparing him to some of the big names in the sport.
He said: "I think that Alcaraz has the level of the big 3 or big 4 that we've had because he really has a level that's very high.
"In other words, when his tennis is up and running, it's really hard to beat him. And I see him at the same level as [Rafael] Nadal, Novak [Djokovic], [Roger] Federer, even at their best, because he's got that level.
"On the other hand, he can't keep it up at the moment, every week, with the consistency that those players have had. But he's young, he's still very young, and he's going to keep winning, keep progressing, keep raising his game.
"Maybe he'll reach the level of those players. Last year, we saw him do very well at Roland Garros but ultimately lose due to cramp. But then he wins at Wimbledon, and you think that's it, he's reached that level [of the big 3].
"Yes, he was there over that period, not over ten months for the moment. And I've no doubt he'll be there, but it's going to be complicated."
Meanwhile, Sinner has enjoyed a strong start to 2024 saw him win his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open, following up with wins in Rotterdam and Miami.
The Italian also cruised through his opening round at Roland Garros with a straight-sets win over Christopher Eubanks and is set to face Richard Gasquet next on Monday.
"As far as I'm concerned, [Sinner's] at a slightly lower level than Alcaraz. But his average level is higher than that of Alcaraz. So that's where it's interesting," Simon added.
"So far, Jannik has been able to show consistency for over six months, from the end of last season to his injuries at the start of the clay-court season.
"He's been in the final of almost every tournament for six months, or a winner. His consistency is reminiscent of that of the Big 4.
"But what's interesting is that he lost his big match at Indian Wells, against Alcaraz, who suddenly regained his level and overtook him. So that's how I see it."
Sabalenka extends first-round streak with fine start at French Open
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka emphatically progressed to the second round of the French Open with victory over Erika Andreeva on Tuesday.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka won 6-1 6-2 in just 68 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier in the first career meeting between the two players.
There were 27 winners from Sabalenka and just nine from Andreeva, who only showed the briefest resistance with a sole break early in the second set.
But strong favourite Sabalenka, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year, made an instant response by breaking back, ultimately winning five of the final six games to ruthlessly close out the victory.
She will play a qualifier – either Irene Burillo Escorihuela or Moyuka Uchijima – in the next round of the competition.
Data Debrief: Sabalenka extends first-round streak
Sabalenka has now won each of her last 15 first-round matches at grand slam tournaments, not suffering defeat at the first hurdle since a clash against Carla Suarez Navarro at the Australian Open in January 2020.
She has also won six R1 matches in a row at the French Open, not suffering an opening-round loss in Paris since the 2018 edition.
Sabalenka will continue her bid to become the first female player to win both the Australian Open and Roland Garros in a calendar year since Serena Williams in 2015. Her record on clay this season is now improved to a healthy 12-3.
Andreeva, meanwhile, was always likely to find the going tough and won just eight of her 23 points on first serve as she was broken five times across the contest. The 19-year-old is yet to reach a grand slam second round.
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