Novak Djokovic continued to cement his incredible legacy in 2023, further pushing the boundaries of what is possible to achieve in tennis. After a difficult 2022 (mostly for extra-tennis reasons), Djokovic came back with a vengeance and had another season for the ages.
Novak Djokovic 2023 Season Review
Grand Slam dominance
At age 36, Novak Djokovic managed to put together one of the greatest seasons of all-time at Grand Slam level, coming within a set of a Calendar Grand Slam. He started by recapturing his crown in Australia, winning that tournament for the 10th time. He was barely challenged all tournament, dropping only two sets during the entire fortnight and beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets in the final.
After his victory in Australia, Djokovic had another dominant run in Paris. With Rafael Nadal out, Carlos Alcaraz emerged as his main challenger, but the young Spaniard suffered from cramps in the semifinal, ultimately what had looked to be a classic in the making a formality for the Serb. In the final, he pulled off another straight set win against Casper Ruud to become the first man to win each of the four Slam at least three times and to win a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title.
There were talks of a potential Calendar Grand Slam after his victory in Paris, but he fell just short at the third hurdle. At Wimbledon he also had a dominant run to the final, but despite heading into the match as the favourite, he lost a dramatic five-setter to Alcaraz in the final, a match that was decided by just a few points here and there and could well have gone Djokovic’s way. With that loss, he also missed out on the chance to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles.
Many thought that Wimbledon would be the start of Alcaraz’s dominance and the end of Djokovic’s, but the Serb made light of that narrative, beating Alcaraz in another thriller in Cincinnati before dominating the field en route to the title at the US Open, not dropping a single set from the round of 16 onwards and avenging his 2021 defeat against Daniil Medvedev in the final. It was a fourth US Open title for Djokovic and a historic 24th Grand Slam title to cap off one of the greatest years in Grand Slam history.
Record Seventh ATP Finals title and #1 ranking
After the US Open title, Djokovic skipped the Asian swing, but he picked up where he had left off in the indoor season, beating all comers en route to a record-breaking seventh ATP Finals title, breaking the tie with Federer. Sinner beat him in the group stages, but Djokovic took his revenge in the final, dismantling the Italian in front of his home crowd. This run in Turin also secured his eighth year-end #1 finish and further extended his lead for weeks at #1, breaking the 400 week barrier.
Other titles
Aside from winning three of the four Slams and the ATP Finals, Djokovic also won two Masters 1000 events at Cincinnati and Paris. He also won an ATP 250 in Adelaide, as a warm-up to the Australian Open. Aside from the Wimbledon defeat, winning Davis Cup was the only major goal Djokovic didn’t manage to reach this year, losing to Jannik Sinner. The Serb goes into 2024 as the undisputed #1 player in the world, the man to beat at every event; no one would be surprised to see him extend his already incredible records next season.
Main photo credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
