By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday June 15, 2021
Novak Djokovic has just completed one of the most remarkable Grand Slam title runs of his career, winning Roland-Garros in a dazzling fortnight that saw him TWICE come back from a two-set deficit in his final four matches, while also doing the unthinkable—becoming the first man in history to defeat Rafael Nadal TWICE! on the red clay in Paris.
Before we get too focused on Wimbledon, let’s take stock of his remarkable Roland-Garros title, by the numbers.
2 Number of times that Djokovic has defeated Nadal on clay. Djokovic did it by playing what he called his best ever match at Roland-Garros, in the semi-finals. The World No.1 defeated Nadal, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2 to become the only man in history to own two victories over Nadal at Roland-Garros.
“Definitely the best match that I was part of ever in Roland Garros for me, and top three matches that I ever played in my entire career, considering quality of tennis, playing my biggest rival on the court where he has had so much success and has been the dominant force in the last 15- plus years,” Djokovic told reporters after the match.
1946 According to NBC Sports, Djokovic is the first man to come back from a two sets to love deficit twice to win a major since 1946. No player has achieved that feat in the Open Era.
1Only one ATP player has won all four Grand Slam titles more than once in Open Era history, and that would be Djokovic. The Serb joins Roy Emerson and Rod Laver, who achieved the feat before the Open Era began in 1969.
Djokovic is also the first player in Open Era history to have won the Australian Open and Roland-Garros in the same year more than once (2016, 2021). Jim Courier (1992) and Rod Laver (1969) are the only other players to have achieved it once.
7 Having won seven majors titles since he turned 30, Djokovic has passed Rafael Nadal (6) to take sole ownership of this record.
19 By winning his 19th major singles title, Djokovic pulled within one of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the first time. Djokovic has won seven of the last eleven major singles title on offer.
95-1 Djokovic became the first person to ever defeat Nadal at Roland-Garros after dropping the first set to the King of Clay, ending a run of 95 consecutive wins for Nadal when he had won the first set in Paris.
8 Djokovic picked up his eighth win on clay against Nadal, which is double the amount of the next best player (Dominic Thiem, 4). Djokovic owns eight of the 43 victories earned over Nadal on clay.
29 Djokovic reached his 29th Grand Slam final, pulling ahead of Nadal (28) and moving within two of Federer (31).
6 Djokovic became the sixth player in ATP history to rally from two sets to love down in a Grand Slam final when he took out Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. The Serb is the first man to achieve the feat at Roland-Garros since Gaston Gaudio in 2004.
6 Djokovic has rallied from two sets down at a Slam six time in his career. On three of those occasions—2021 Roland-Garros, 2015 Wimbledon and 2011 US Open—he went on to win the title.