ŠAMPIONI SVETA / WORLD CHAMPIONS NOVAK ĐOKOV I Ć Inscribed in tennis history With the FrenchOpen trophy in his hands, tears in his eyes and the Serbian national anthemon his lips in Paris, Nole once again succeeded in doingwhat no one had ever previously done Theworld’s top tennis player,NovakĐoković, has won his second Grand Slam title in Paris, and the 19thof his fantastic career, by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas. And he achieved something that no one has ever done before in the process, by becoming the only player in the history of this sport tohavewon eachof the four Grand Slam tournaments at least twice in the Open era. Hehaswon theAustralianOpena recordnine times and has now won the French Open for a second time, while he also has five trophies from Wimbledon and three from the U.S. Open. In comparison, Roger Federer has won eight of his 20Grand Slam titles atWimbledon, six at the Australian Open, five at the U.S. Open and only one at the French Open, while Rafael Nadal has proved victorious 13 times on the clay of Paris, four times in New York, twice in London and only once in Melbourne. The last time Đoković won the title at Roland Garros, back in 2016, he became the only player in the history of the Open era to have held all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously.That’s not the case now, as hewas disqualified fromtheU.S. Open after inadvertently hitting a referee with a ball and Wimbledon wasn’t held in 2020 due to the pandemic, but this Serb has nevertheless been inscribed in the tennis history books – because prior to this year‘s French Open no one had ever won at least two titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments in the individual men‘s competition. The hero of this story is Novak himself. This master of tennis, who responded to losing the first two sets in the Paris final by not allowing his rival to gain a single break ball in the next three sets. “I’m delighted, very proud. I’m part of the history of the sport that I love, and that fulfils me. I couldn‘t be happier, because of everything I‘ve done. This is probably one of my three greatest achievements,” said Đoković speaking after the match. After achieving his 19th Grand Slam title, Đoković embracedhis team and waited to hear „God of Justice“ emanating from the speakers. With tears in hiseyes, hegaveawholehearted rendition of the Serbian national anthem, whichresoundedaroundParis. With a beautiful smile for the words „God save, God defend, the Serbian people pray to you!“, Đoković again celebratedSerbia andonce againbecame the championof the world! 74 | Tenis » Tennis Ovo je verovatno jedno odmoja tri najveća dostignuća / This is probably one of my three greatest achievements
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