Fresh from his Olympic triumph in Paris, Novak Djokovic is set to defend his title at the US Open 2024. If he wins the trophy, it would be his fifth championship in New York soil, as well as his 25th Grand Slam overall. However, the Serbian can also tie another Roger Federer’s record.
Despite Federer’s retirement, his impact on tennis is still felt. One of his lesser known, but not less impressive, stats is that he is the only man who has successfully defended three titles in different Grand Slams tournaments.
He did it at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, as well as the US Open, which he won five consecutive times. Now, Djokovic, who has defended titles in London and Melbourne, also has the opportunity to achieve that this year, after winning the major in 2023 against Daniil Medvedev.
Djokovic could also tie Federer’s wins in New York
The 2024 has been somewhat of a difficult year for the Serbian, who is also trying to ensure that 2024 will not be his first year without winning a major since 2017, after Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon and the French Open, and Jannik Sinner won in Australia. However, in order to do that, he also has to be the first man to defend a title in New York since 2008… When Federer conquered his last US Open.
In the past five years, the US Open has seen five different champions: Rafael Nadal (2019), Dominic Thiem (2020), Daniil Medvedev (2021), Carlos Alcaraz (2022), and Djokovic last year. Since the end of Federer’s dominant era, only Nadal and Djokovic have won multiple US Open titles, with each securing four.
In his pre-tournament press conference, Djokovic admitted he hadn’t realized it had been 16 years since a man last defended the US Open title. “I didn’t know that,” Djokovic said. “I knew it had been the case for maybe five or ten years, but I didn’t realize it was that long. Hopefully, that changes this year. That’s the goal,” he added.
Having reached a record 10 US Open finals, Djokovic now has the chance to equal the Open Era record of five titles held by Federer, Pete Sampras, and Jimmy Connors at the New York major. And, even if he doesn’t win the tournament, but at least reach the third round, he would also surpass Federer’s 89 triumphs in the US Open (Jimmy Connors has the record with 98).