Bill Simons
After losing the first-set tiebreak of his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic suddenly withdrew due to a muscle tear. An 80-year-old woman in Perth, Australia had to breathe a deep sigh of relief. Margaret Court once again knew that her record of 24 Slams had not been surpassed.
Records are the lifeblood of sports. They’re meant to be broken – fans love them. Often they shape careers. The quest to break marks can be captivating.
Sports historians like to remind us about the storied efforts by runners to break the four-minute mile. And, for decades, Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs in a season seemed insurmountable – until it wasn’t.
Of course, many athletes downplay records, saying “Nah, they ain’t that big a deal.” It makes sense: why put pressure on yourself?
In the twilight of their careers, Federer and Nadal brushed aside the pursuit of records and put them in their rear view mirrors. Nadal scoffed, insisting, “You can’t be frustrated…because the neighbor has a bigger house or TV or a better garden. That’s not the way that I see life.”
Then again, if Rafa is the King of Clay, then Novak Djokovic is the King of Records. He loves them, and doesn’t hesitate to admit they spur him on.
These days, at one event after another, Novak can’t help but break assorted marks. To him, it’s like going down to the market to pick up a loaf of bread. It’s hard to even figure out just how many ATP records the guy holds.
Still, there are certain records and honors even Novak won’t ever claim. The spicy battler will never win the ATP’s Stefan Edberg Award for Sportsmanship, which Federer claimed 13 times. He’ll probably never get the ATP’s Fan Favorite Prize, which Roger collected 19 times. Plus, it’s doubtful the gritty fellow will ever be celebrated by Sports Illustrated as their Sports Person of the Year. Plus, we wonder if Nole, who’s won 99 tourneys, will somehow manage to equal Jimmy Connors record of 109 titles.
In sports, there are some records that seem unbreakable. Can any NBA player ever again score 100 points in a game or average 50 points a game like Wilt Chamberlain? And these other marks seem quite safe: Bill Russell’s 11 NBA championships, Wayne Gretskey’s 2,857 points, Cal Ripken’s 2,632 consecutive games, Jerry Rice’s 22,895 receiving yards, Michael Phelps’s 28 Olympic medals and Ricky Henderson’s 1,406 stolen bases.
Similarly, in tennis, there are certain records that are unassailable. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut’s 2010 Wimbledon marathon shattered the record book: longest match – 11:05, most aces – 216, and most games – 138. Connors won the US Open on three different surfaces – grass, clay and hard. That’s not going to happen again.
In her quest to break Court’s record of 24 singles Slams, Serena got to 23, and had a chance to equal Margaret’s record eight times. She never did. Novak equaled the Aussie’s mark by winning the 2023 US Open, but he’s now failed five times to break her record.
Many felt Novak had his best chance to surpass Court in Melbourne, where he’s won 10 times. But even if Novak never shatters Court’s mark, his domination of the record book is simply astounding. Here are just some of his achievements.
• 24 majors won
• Career Super Slam – winning all four majors, the ATP Year-end Championship and the Olympic gold medal
• Triple Career Grand Slam – winning all majors at least three times
• Career earnings – $185 million
• Year end No. 1 – 8 times
• 428 weeks at No. 1
• Most ATP Masters 1000 titles – 40
• Major titles won in three different decades
• 382 Grand Slam matches won
• 30 consecutive Grand Slam matches won
• Wins over all Top Ten players in one year – 2015
WILL NOVAK KEEP ON PLAYING? At last year’s French Open, and again in Melbourne, Novak suffered serious injuries. Naturally he was asked if he would play the Australian Open in the future. he replied, “There is a chance. Who knows? I’ll just have to see how the season goes…If I’m fit, healthy, motivated, I don’t see a reason I wouldn’t come. But there’s always a chance.” He then added, “I’ll keep going, I’ll keep striving to win more Slams as long as I feel that I want to put up with all of this, I’ll be around.”
JUST WONDERING: Will Novak win another Slam?
PUTTING NOVAK’S WITHDRAWAL IN PERSPECTIVE: When Alexander Zverev stepped to the microphone after advancing to his first Australian Open final, he told the Laver Arena fans not to boo a player when they withdraw.
He added, “Novak is someone who has given to this sport for the past 20 years absolutely everything of his life. He has won this tournament with an abdominal tear, and again with a hamstring tear, so if he cannot continue this tennis match, he really cannot continue this tennis match.” Zverev said Nole always helped him when he was in need and there was no one he respected more on the tour.
GO FIGURE: Early in his career, Djokovic was known for pulling out of key matches. Then, for years, he was celebrated for his incredible fitness…After his quarterfinal victory over Carlos Alcaraz at this year’s AO, Djokovic admitted that if he hadn’t won the first set he would have withdrawn…This was not the first time an Alexander Zverev Grand Slam semifinal ended abruptly due to an injury. While battling Rafa at the 2022 French Open, Sascha suddenly suffered a gruesome ankle injury.
DARK ARTS IN TENNIS: After some claimed that Jannik Sinner used a medical time out to slow Holger Rune’s momentum, the Dane’s mother Aneke asked, “Are tennis medical timeouts turning into their own form of tactical dark arts? We’ve seen a few of these at the AO seemingly shift the momentum of big matches.”
A COACH, A HUSBAND AND A HERO: Madison Keys’s coach, Bjorn Fratangelo, gets our Coach of the Slam award. Clearly, having her husband as her coach helps Maddy. And it’s not rocket science that it’s great he’s deeply into racket science, as well as analytics and tactics, and is a former tour player who knows the rigors of the sport.
Plus he’s deeply loyal, and he’s unafraid to make long term suggestions (change your racket, your strings and your service motion) and provide in-the-moment tactical tips. Maddy’s serve improved by a whopping 6 mph. And her on and off court results have been good: she got married in November in Charleston and now she’s on an 11-match win streak. This year’s AO finalist also was in the 2017 US Open final and this gap between her appearances in finals is the longest by any and woman in history.
VIVA LA DIFFERENCE: When Paula Badosa was asked what the difference was between playing Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, she replied, “Iga destroyed me physically…With Aryna it’s like winners everywhere. Sometimes I’m just walking around the court because I feel like she’s playing PlayStation.”
Also reporting: Vinay Venkatesh
