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Regular-article-logo Thursday, 25 April 2024

Novak’s dreams unlimited

Djokovic was in imperious form before the pandemic brought the circuit to a halt in early March

Reuters London Published 15.05.20, 11:56 PM
Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic (AP)

Novak Djokovic believes he will win the most Grand Slam titles and become the longest-reigning world No. 1 by the time he retires.

The current world No. 1 has 17 Grand Slam titles to his name — two behind Spain’s Rafael Nadal and three fewer than Switzerland’s Roger Federer — and said he has no doubt in his ability to overtake the other members of the so-called ‘Big Three’.

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“I’m always very confident in myself,” the 32-year-old Serb said in an interview on In Depth with Graham Bensinger. “I believe I can win the most Slams and break the record for longest No. 1. Those are definitely my clear goals.”

Djokovic was in imperious form before the pandemic brought the circuit to a halt in early March.

He lifted the ATP Cup with Serbia, won an eighth Australian Open title and then completed a fifth triumph at the Dubai Tennis Championships, extending his unbeaten run to 21.

Swiss great Federer also owns the record for total number of weeks at number one, 310, and consecutive weeks at the top position, 237, compared with Djokovic’s 282 and 122.

Federer turns 39 in August and Djokovic said he could envision himself playing at 40.

“I don’t believe in limits. I think limits are only illusions of your ego or your mind,” he said.

It wasn’t too long ago that Djokovic had an entirely different outlook on the game.

After falling in straight sets to unseeded Benoit Paire at the Miami Open in 2018, his wife Jelena said he was ready to hang up the racquet.

Djokovic did not go through with his retirement plans and bounced back to triumph at Wimbledon that July.

In the wide-ranging interview, Djokovic also discussed past struggles with his health, his marriage and surviving the bombings in his native Serbia in 1999.

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