Novak Djokovic has started his hunt for a record 24th Grand Slam at Wimbledon. He will continue his battle without archrival Rafael Nadal, who is out with a hip injury. The Serbian is one of the most experienced players on grass, as this is his 17th time at the championships.
Roger Federer, even though he is retired, is still leading the race at Wimbledon with 8 titles. Federer took over from Pete Sampras twenty years ago and now may have to hand it over to Djokovic. The world number 2 is only one title away from equaling Federer’s record at Wimbledon.
Djokovic has faced Federer four times at Wimbledon. While it was the Swiss who took the first victory but Djokovic triumphed in the next three meetings. Djokovic is also the only player to beat Federer more than once at the tournament.
Novak Djokovic vs. Roger Federer at Wimbledon
Every Grand Slam has had rivalries where there was no chance of guessing the winner. Wimbledon has a few world-class players who kept winning the games on the grass. Although Sampras was the greatest at one point in the game with a staggering 7-0 record in the finals, it was Federer who took the records by storm and produced classics at Wimbledon.
Federer, in his prime, could only be disturbed by Nadal at Wimbledon, and later through the years, he was beaten by Djokovic. The 10-time Australian Open winner has defeated Federer three times in the finals of the All-England Championships, with the latest being in 2019. The 7-time champion even saved two match points in the 2019 final, which lasted 4 hours and 55 minutes.
Djokovic had lost to Federer in the 2012 semifinals but made sure to leave an impact on the court in the coming years. Even though the crowd had always supported Federer, it was not enough to affect the mentality Djokovic had. With the 2014-15 finals defeat at Wimbledon at the hands of Djokovic, Federer’s handover had already begun.
It was the forehand that brought an end to the Sampras era and again brought an end to Federer’s era. Djokovic’s mentality and experience have troubled the greatest of all time on his favorite surface, so it will be a mammoth task to bring him down.
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Djokovic has the most favorable draw at this year’s Wimbledon, according to the IBM AI draw analysis. The 36-year-old needs 6 more victories to win his eighth title and go two ahead of Nadal in the Grand Slam race. Djokovic will face Jordan Thompson next for a place in the third round.