A day or so before the French Open began and the rain started to fall, Novak Djokovic shot a series of short, amusing commercials with Gustavo Kuerten, the genial, mop-topped, three-time French Open champion from Brazil.
In one of the spots, Djokovic, who at that point had never won the tournament, asked Kuerten for the secret of Roland Garros.
The power, Kuerten said as they sat in a car, is in the hair, and he presented Djokovic with a curly wig that the Serb dutifully placed atop his head, almost like a crown.
Two weeks later, Djokovic stood atop a platform holding the Coupe des Mousquetaires aloft as champion of France. It was his first French Open title, and it made him the holder of all four major crowns at the same time, unifying the tennis world under his unquestionable dominion.
It was also Djokovic’s 12th Grand Slam singles title, tying him with the Australian great Roy Emerson. Perhaps even more significant, it left him only five short of tying Roger Federer’s record of 17.
Kuerten beamed from the stands when Djokovic won Sunday. Moments later, he argued that because Djokovic had unlocked the secret to Roland Garros and continued to display dominance on grass and hardcourts, Federer’s record was in jeopardy.
Kuerten said Djokovic’s skill level was ‘one of the highest ever and most impossible in tennis.’
“That is what he is doing daily,” he added, “to break all the numbers, he is even getting close to Roger. Perhaps in a year or two we are going to see him with a real chance to get the numbers on the Slams.”
There was a time, in the summer of 2009, for instance, after Federer had won his 16th Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, when few would have speculated that anyone would catch him. Perhaps it will not happen, but Djokovic will remain the heavy favourite to win the next five or six (or perhaps more) Grand Slam tournaments he enters.
“Every time you ask, who is going to win a tournament, he is it,” Kuerten said.
Djokovic is barely 29 and is at the peak of his talent, desire and physical agility. Federer turns 35 in August, Rafael Nadal is 30 but frequently injured, and Andy Murray, whom Djokovic beat soundly in the French final on Sunday, has difficulty in their head-to-head matchups. (Djokovic leads their series, 24-10, including 13 of the last 15.)
The next generation of stars, like Nick Kyrgios, 21, Dominic Thiem, 22, and Alexander Zverev Jr, 19, are still thought to be a few years away from competing for major titles.
Djokovic crushed Thiem in the semifinals in Paris.
That leaves Djokovic on a throne all his own.
The next attainable milestone is something even Federer has not achieved: the Grand Slam. The last man to do it was Rod Laver, in 1969, and no one since Jim Courier in 1992 has gotten through the French Open with two of the four Grand Slam singles titles. Djokovic, who beat Murray at the Australian Open as well, is on the track.
“I’m very proud, very thrilled, obviously,” he said. “But it’s hard for me to reflect on what has happened before and what’s going to happen after. I’m just so overwhelmed with having this trophy next to me that I’m just trying to enjoy this moment.”
But Serena Williams is the most recent example of how difficult it is to perform under the weighty expectations and hopes of a Grand Slam run.
Williams is still the dominant female player, but her air of invincibility has cracked in the last three majors. Two of those losses might be considered flukes. The veteran Italian player Roberta Vinci stunned Williams in a US Open semifinal last September when Williams was within two matches of winning the Grand Slam.
At the Australian Open in January, she lost the final to Angelique Kerber, a fine player ranked No 4 but not one considered to be the next regular major champion.
The result that made some people wonder if a shift was coming to the top of women’s tennis came on Saturday when the talented, powerful and confident Garbine Muguruza, who has been hailed as a future No 1, defeated Williams in straight sets to claim her first major singles title.
In fairness, Williams had been hobbled by an upper leg injury during her quarterfinal and semifinal wins. But she looked better in the final, and Muguruza mostly directed the flow of the match.
After witnessing that, the 12-time Grand Slam singles champion Billie Jean King said it was a changing of the guard. At 72, King has seen many of those. Certainly, Muguruza did not consider the result a fluke.
“I have been saying during the whole week to be less emotional, to believe more that I’m here because I deserve my place here,” she said Saturday. “I earned it.”
Williams will turn 35 in September, but she, too, still has records in mind. She needs one more Grand Slam singles title to match Steffi Graf’s 22, but that has proved elusive.
The last time Williams lost in three straight majors was two years ago, and after that she reeled off four titles in a row. But she was 33 then, and Muguruza is 22 and likely to continue to improve.
Remarkably, so is Djokovic.
“He is able to get better every single year,” Kuerten said. “That is scary. It is very scary because he was already playing better than Roger and Rafa, and he keeps improving. Murray is the one that can challenge a little. But he has a hard time to beat him.”
New York Times News Service
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