At the end of last season, Novak Djokovic openly confessed to MARCA what his goals were for the current season: “I want the record for the most titles. I want to win as many tournaments as possible and pass Jimmy Connors.”
The American retired with 109 titles to Roger Federer‘s 103, the only two tennis players who have been centenarians in the Open Era (since 1968), and Djokovic is aiming for that figure on the courts of Flushing Meadows after a blank year until the Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games.
Another of Djokovic‘s aims for 2024 was to join the Golden Slam Winners’ Club. He shares the list of winners with Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal.
Nadal’s absence
Nadal is the outstanding absence at the US Open. Champion in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019, he has not been in the draw since 2022 and it seems unlikely that he will have the option to say goodbye to the New York public before hanging up his racket.
Djokovic, who has not played a hard-court tournament since Indian Wells, has not dusted off his cabinet of majors since September 10, 2023, when he was crowned for the fourth time at the US Open.
Even Nadal, his greatest rival, does not dispute his status as the best tennis player in history. He, however, is aiming for a twenty-fifth Grand Slam that would stop the generational change and end the tie with Margaret Court.
The Australian Open went to Jannik Sinner and Roland Garros and Wimbledon went to Carlos Alcaraz.
The 37-year-old from Belgrade underwent an operation on the meniscus of his right knee on June 5 and has since been forced to play with a knee brace, which he left behind in New York.
He was absent from the Masters 1000 in Montreal and Cincinnati and withdrew from Friday’s training session with Holger Rune.
