The kid from Belgrade who practised through the 1999 bombing, on courts his coach picked by where the shells had already fallen, grew into the most decorated man the sport has produced. 24 Grand Slam singles titles is the outright men's record, and the rest of the ledger is just as hard to touch: a record 428 weeks at world No. 1, a record eight year-end finishes on top, and a record forty Masters 1000 crowns. He turned the Australian Open into a private garden, winning it ten times, more than anyone has won any major.
The game is built on elastic defence, the best return of serve tennis has seen and a flexibility that leaves him almost impossible to ace, turning power back on its owner from positions no one else reaches. He was the third of the Big Three and then outlasted both, leading the two most-played rivalries of the era against Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. At Paris 2024 he beat a younger champion for the Olympic gold that finally completed his career Golden Slam. Still active, with 102 career titles behind him, he keeps arriving at the last rounds of the majors.
Seventy-eight. That is how many grand slam main draws Novak Djokovic entered after his last first-round defeat, and he won the opening match in all 78 of them. The 79th ended on Sunday night in New York, where Mariano Navone, ranked 48 and unseeded, beat the fourth seed 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Match taleFour. That is how many US Open titles Novak Djokovic has already won, and the draw made on 27 August 2026 puts him on course to meet Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion who also won the title in 2022, in the semi-final. Both are seeded in the same half of the 128-player field; play starts on 30 August.
Draw tale