Novak Djokovic Has Already Locked Up ‘Player of the Decade’

Novak Djokovic has already locked up his status as “Player of the Decade.” There are three years remaining until 2020, but it’s simply a matter of how many more major titles and weeks at world No. 1 he will add to his reign of this decade.

The Serbian has 11 major titles and 223 weeks at No. 1, and he’s the only player since 1969 to hold the Grand Slam of all four major titles, something legendary rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were unable to accomplish.

How does Djokovic’s decade compare to the best players of past decades?

What would he need to do over the next three years to establish the most dominant decade of all time?

Player of the Decade

The “Player of the Decade” rests mostly on major titles but gives a respectable nod to how long he held the No. 1 ranking. These were the most dominant superstars for each decade:

1970s: Bjorn Borg (8 majors)

The first decade of professionalism began with aging Australian stars and a young Jimmy Connors providing most of the fireworks by 1975. But Bjorn Borg took over and became a global icon with four titles at each of Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the 1970s.

Never mind that Connors had 251 weeks at No. 1 compared to Borg’s 33 weeks. The American benefited greatly from the rankings system at the time that doled out a lot more points for his participation on selected tournaments.

Borg’s body of tournament work was not always computed or rewarded the same with a tour still experimenting with its formats.

1980s: Ivan Lendl (7 majors)

Ivan Lendl had to fight his way through bigger superstars like Borg, Connors and John McEnroe for the first half of the decade, but they were all burned out or gone by the mid-1980s. He won his first major at the 1984 French Open but was almost always the No. 1 player from late 1985 into 1990.

Mats Wilander won a sneaky seven majors as well, but he was nowhere near as dominant as Lendl.

The Swede had a career year in 1988 with three major titles; he went on to hold the No. 1 ranking for 20 weeks and capture 32 titles in the 1980s. Lendl held No. 1 for 238 weeks and won 83 titles in the decade.

1990s: Pete Sampras (12 majors)

Pete Sampras lapped …

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