'If Djokovic wins Wimbledon, he will be far away from Nadal': Former world no.1 makes sensational 'Grand Slam' claim

Former world number one Swedish player Mats Wilander revealed his thoughts about Novak Djokovic’s historic attempt at earning a 24th grand slam at Wimbledon, as well as how it might set him up for a calendar year grand slam at the US Open later this year. Djokovic broke Rafael Nadal’s grand slam record at Roland Garros, overtaking his rival with a victory at the Spaniard’s favourite slam in his absence. Djokovic, already having won the Australian Open, enters Wimbledon as a 7-time champion and the clear favourite to win the tournament, having won every edition since 2018.

“I mean, the pressure is on for Novak big time because obviously, if he wins, he ties Margaret Court at 24 Grand Slams,” said Wilander to Eurosport, a 7-time slam champion himself. Djokovic already ties Serena Williams for open era grand slam titles: Margaret Court earned just over half of her titles in the amateur era.

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“If he wins, he's now one Slam away from doing the calendar Grand Slam again. And if he wins [Wimbledon 2023], you would think that he's put himself far enough away in the distance from Rafael Nadal to come after him and actually threaten his [Slam] record.”

Nadal broke Roger Federer’s record of 20 at the Australian Open last year, extending it to 22 at the French. However, he has suffered from injuries, and his career seems to be coming to a close. Djokovic might be clear at the top for the time being already.

“So I think the weight of expectations is there, but I don't think that it's quite there yet. I would think that he's learned a tremendous amount from losing in that final at the US Open against Daniil Medvedev when literally history was on the line and winning the calendar Grand Slam,” continued Wilander.

The calendar year grand slam was within Djokovic’s reach when he reached the US Open final in 2021, having won the first three slams of the year. However, he was subpar against Medvedev, falling in straight sets to the Russian in very meek fashion.

“Of course it has been done before, but Novak would separate himself from the other big two, Roger and Rafa,” said the Swede. On the men’s tour, only Rod Laver has accomplished the calendar slam, once in the amateur era in 1962 and once in the open era in 1969. Steffi Graf accomplished the feat in 1988, along with an Olympic gold medal. Nadal has won 3 out of 4 in 2010, while Federer won 3 out of 4 thrice in his career.

However, Wilander claimed Djokovic would find confidence in being the outright favourite at Wimbledon, with stats going around about how the other players in the top 20 don’t add up to as many wins as he has at the tournament.

“So this time I think Wimbledon is a little bit more relaxed for him. I do think that he goes into the tournament thinking that, okay, a grass court is very uncomfortable for most players. At least this is the way I see it. To me, there's a few players that he can lose to, but I don't see that many players that can win the tournament,” said the Swede, who himself won all 3 slams except Wimbledon in his career.

“No one really feels comfortable on a grass court apart from maybe Novak Djokovic. And the reason why he feels comfortable, I think, is because he knows the other players are feeling uncomfortable,” concluded Wilander.

Djokovic will be happy with his draw, setting himself up for a fifth straight Wimbledon title, and record-tying eighth overall. He opens the tournament against Pedro Cachin on Centre Court as is tradition at Wimbledon, but will avoid any difficult opposition until potentially facing Jannik Sinner in the semifinal. The young Italian pushed Djokovic to 5 sets at this tournament last year, and will look to go one better, but Djokovic will trust his experience to win Wimbledon once more.

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