It is Novak’s sport now, no debate, no arguments.
After Grand Slam No. 23, a two-week romp in which Djokovic lost all of two sets out of 23 on a surface that is historically his worst, outlasting a cramping Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinal and prompting Casper Ruud to lose his will after an airtight first set in the final, it is not just the weight of history propping up the 2023 men’s French Open champion, but the reality of his longevity.
Rafael Nadal, who Djokovic passed in major victories for the first time ever on Sunday, will finish his career in 2024. Roger Federer, who for so long looked so indomitable, retired last year.
Djokovic is 36, an age at which the likes of Alcaraz and Ruud should by rights have had him gassed by the end of their respective matches. Instead, it was the young Alcaraz whose body betrayed him in the third set on Friday. And it was Djokovic who found a second wind after going down a break in the first set to Ruud on Sunday, and who held serve for the rest of the match, winning 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-5.
The only honor that has so far eluded Djokovic is an Olympic gold medal, and he can put that to rest next summer on the same red clay on which he just played a flawless two weeks.
What is so galling about Djokovic’s greatness is that, despite his age, he looks as though he will put some distance between himself and Nadal by the end of his career. Maybe there is something to the diet and crystal regimen after all.
You would not bet against him in London or New York — in fact, Djokovic looks primed to make another run at sweeping all four Slams in a calendar year, a feat that eluded him by a solitary match in 2021 and which has not been done by a men’s singles player since Rod Laver in 1969. (By the way, remember the quaint days of 15 years ago when Laver could still be considered the GOAT in respectable circles and Pete Sampras held the all-time Slam record with 14?)
Paris, where Alcaraz came into the tournament as the betting favorite, looked like the venue where Djokovic was most likely to falter. So much for that.
Djokovic has not only set the record for men, but looks set to pass Serena Williams, with whom he is currently tied for the most majors in the open era, and Margaret Court, who won 24 majors in the amateur era.
He also holds the records for most weeks ranked No. 1 (a distinction he re-earned on Sunday), the most career Masters tournaments won (38) and Grand Slam finals reached (34), while being tied with Federer for the most year-end championship titles (six).
His record at majors since the start of 2021 is a staggering 44-2. And since the advent of the COVID-19 vaccine, Djokovic has lost as many major titles because he was unable to enter the country in which the tournament was held as he has on the court — two apiece.
That does, however, bring us to the unpleasant part of Djokovic’s anointment: his almost inherent unlikability.
That is a somewhat common characteristic amongst GOATs. Tom Brady is as hated by New Yorkers as anyone who has ever played a sport. Michael Jordan threw punches at teammates, made fun of then-Bulls general manager Jerry Krause’s weight and was famously selfish. Tiger Woods’ marriage fell apart after his rampant cheating became public. You would be hard-pressed to find a reporter with a positive thing to say about Barry Bonds’ personality. Bob Knight regularly employed tactics that would today be considered abusive and was an open sexist. Jim Brown was arrested seven times for assault, including against women.
Rarely does that prevent anyone on that list from being embraced amongst a certain segment of fans — some larger than others — and so it is with Djokovic, whose country is experiencing a sporting moment with him and Nikola Jokic.
Djokovic continues to wade into politics — as recently as this French Open by claiming that Kosovo is a part of Serbia amidst political controversy in the country, which declared independence in 2008 — in ways that will not help him in that aspect.
At this point, it seems a given that he does not care, nor will he be cajoled into caring, about the public relations disasters he regularly courts.
And, like it or not, he is probably right not to care. The first lines of his obituary, after all, will not be about the COVID-19 vaccine. They will be about his undeniable status as the greatest men’s tennis player of all-time.
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Slow motion
Despite the romanticization of George Steinbrenner’s ownership, it is worth remembering for Mets fans that the Yankees did not win all that much while Steinbrenner was going through managers at a yearly clip.
It is in fact the team’s stability — three managers and one general manager over the last 25 years — that has helped lead to a run in which the Yankees have missed the playoffs just four times and finished with a winning record every year during that span.
Between 1982-94, when Steinbrenner regularly took center stage, the Yankees burned through 12 managers, a series of marquee players and never made the playoffs. That is no example for Steve Cohen to follow.
Maybe Buck Showalter and Billy Eppler are the right combination for the Mets. Maybe not. It is inarguable that both have made mistakes leading to the team’s disastrous start, and that if the disappointment does not abate, they should be held accountable.
But Cohen does seem to realize, correctly, that nothing would be solved by cleaning house now besides giving fans a quick dopamine hit.
“When things get really bad, I’m not going to blow up,” Cohen exclusively told The Post’s Joel Sherman. “I don’t think that’s the proper response. I don’t think it solves anything, other than it gives people a one-day story. But it doesn’t really solve anything.”
If this continues (and heading into the first Subway Series of the season this week after losing two of three to the Pirates over the weekend hints it might), there will come a point at which there is no choice but to make changes, at which the season is not salvageable.
Right now, though, such changes — when candidate pools for potential replacements are not at all deep — would only serve to hasten the Mets’ downward plunge.
At least for the moment, better to practice patience — and for Cohen to set himself apart from Steinbrenner.
The good guys
The Nuggets are one win away from closing in on a title that nobody outside of Miami can be upset about.
After a decade in which NBA titles were consolidated by superteams, the last three seasons have brought a refreshingly different vibe, none more so than this Denver team. It feels not unlike the 2014 Spurs — a group that is greater than the sum of its parts, plays visually appealing basketball and has carved a knife through teams that are more talented on paper.
Nikola Jokic currently leads the playoffs in total points, assists and rebounds — a feat that has never been done if he manages to pull it off. If they win Monday, the Nuggets will have gotten through the playoffs without ever having been down in a series. Miami’s Game 2 victory to pull the Finals even was one of just two times they were in a tied series that was not 0-0.
Even without Jokic, and he was on the bench for a key stretch of Game 4, Denver looks ascendant.
Better than that, the Nuggets look like that rare championship team we can all get behind.
Surely, Denver has waited long enough for a basketball championship, with the Nuggets never having won so much as a conference title since 1976 in the ABA.
If Jokic or Jamal Murray have skeletons in their closets, we haven’t found them yet. You can’t know a team’s culture without being in it, but by all accounts, the Nuggets seem to have a good one. They have built this team the right way, sticking by coach Michael Malone and by the star players they drafted.
And for all the talk about Jokic’s lack of personality, the basketball he plays is wonderful. So is the basketball Denver plays — moving the ball and moving off the ball instead of an endless parade of 3-pointers.
You have to go all the way to ownership and Stan Kroenke to find something truly unlikeable about the Nuggets and, really, if ownership is your litmus test, then there aren’t many franchises left for you to root for.
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