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Despite the fact that Novak Djokovic seems destined to break all the great records of the Grand Slams, there is one that right now seems very distant. Those are already big words. It is no secret to anyone that the Serbian tennis player has made the Australian Open his favorite terrain and a place where it is practically impossible to beat him.
There is no more difficult challenge in the 'white sport' than beating 'Nole' at Melbourne Park. Still, the Serb is far from a record set by Spaniard Rafael Nadal on the clay of Roland Garros. Nadal has the record for the most matches won in the same Grand Slam, with 112 in Paris.
The second and third records are also not held by Djokovic. These are the Swiss Roger Federer with 105 matches successfully resolved at Wimbledon and 102 at the Australian Open. Those are, for the moment, the only three records that exist for the same player with at least 100 victories in the same Grand Slam.
Further behind come the 98 victories that Jimmy Connors recorded at the US Open, and Novak Djokovic is only up to fifth place with his 89 wins in Australia, the same as Federer at the US Open. To dream of reaching 100 wins in Melbourne, the Serbian should at least play two more editions and think about winning one and being a finalist in the other.
Nadal's 112 wins seem like an impossible mission, especially considering that this figure could still be increased this year by the Spaniard.
Tumaini Carayol on Rafa Nadal
Tumaini Carayol believes men's tennis is enduring a "strange period" at the moment given how Djokovic and Rafael Nadal continue to dominate the field.
"It's definitely a weird, strange period in men's tennis at the moment. Djokovic is still just, you know, just dominating as he did," Carayol said. "Nadal's main issue has been injuries not the quality of the field. You know, catching up with them is the fact that he injured his abdominal muscle before the semis of Wimbledon and just hasn't recovered.
More things keep on piling up on top of that," he added. "Seriously, on one hand, I think Djokovic is this good. Yes. He's 35 years old. Yes, he's old or whatever. Same with Nadal. Yes, they're old. But like the level he's playing is still incredible and still, you know, he's still so good.
And, you know, regardless, he's better than he's a better tennis player than these guys. He would you know, that's just clear. He's just much better," Carayol said.