Ladies and gentlemen, the man has done it once again. Novak Djokovic, famously known as The Joker, has reached his history-making, record-tying, awe-inspiring 24th Grand Slam title at this year’s US Open major tournament in victory over Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev. With a turquoise Mamba Forever t-shirt that commemorated the late Kobe Bryant, the Serbian tennis giant held up the gleaming, silver US Open Championship Trophy for the fourth time in his career in front of thousands of applauding fans at the legendary Arthur Ashe Stadium, as well as in front of millions of admiring supporters watching from their homes around the world. After having been defeated by the very same player in the exact same situation two years prior, Djokovic reversed the circumstances, displaying a mental fortitude and resilience like no other and making sure that he came out on the winning side this time. In addition, he made sure to demonstrate that, instead of holding him back against the young, ruthless competitors, his 36 years of age and experience actually give him a competitive edge, placing him as an almost undefeatable opponent on the court.
The final score of the championship match was 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in which Djokovic’s both physical and mental components were brutally tested, especially in the second set. Watching the game, fans would often see the Serbian leaning on his racket or knees for support, rubbing a freezing bag of ice over his head in between games, or stretching his legs in between points. The set ended with a very close finish, as a result, in which the Joker managed to play three flawless points in a row in order to pass Medvedev in the tally and clinch the set with a two-point lead. Furthermore, after the set had ended, Djokovic swiftly grabbed his bag from his chair and walked off for a much-needed toilet break. Once he came back, however, he looked as if he had been freshly resurrected back to life. He was springing up and down the court, moving faster than ever before and targeting shots where Medvedev didn’t expect them. Djokovic ended up dominating the third set with ease, edging closer and closer to the sight of him kissing the scintillating championship trophy and making ultimate tennis history.
After Djokovic saw the sweet release of Medvedev’s final shot into the net, a powerful wave of relief blew through his face and throughout the stadium. With an ever-growing smile, the Serbian great strolled towards the net to shake his long-time opponent’s hand and afterwards the umpire’s, in order to formally seal off the match. As feelings of pure joy then took hold of him, he knelt on the hard-court floor and began sobbing amidst the deafening applause from the crowds. However, once he got up, the first thing he did was walk over to his six-year-old daughter Tara, who had cheered him on during his most crucial moments of the match, and give her the most heartwarming hug in the world. “She [Tara] would give me a smile and a fist pump and that would of course melt my heart and give me this kind of energy and strength and also playfulness that I needed in that moment,” he expressed during his post-match interview with CNN.
Before the awards ceremony, he changed into the previously mentioned Mamba Forever t-shirt that showed a picture of himself with Kobe Bryant, and over it, he wore a silky white Lacoste zip-up sweater with the number 24, which honored both his newest Grand Slam title and Bryant’s basketball jersey number, in a dark green color on the right side of his chest. Afterwards, as for the prize money, the new No. 1 tennis player in the world earned an enormous sum of $3 million dollars.
At this point in his career, out of his 24 Grand Slams, Djokovic has accumulated a total of four US Open, seven Wimbledon, eleven Australian Open, and three Roland Garros championships. He’s the oldest tennis player to have won the US Open title in the Open Era. In addition, he has tallied a record of 39 titles at Masters 1000 tournaments (his last one was this past August at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio), and he has competed in a newly-set record of 47 Grand Slam semifinals—one more than Roger Federer. He has also marked a total of 391 weeks of being ranked No. 1 in the world, which contributes to his additional record of most year-end finishes at that level—seven years. Most of all, however, with this last major title, he has finally tied Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slams, which he definitely hopes to break in the next year.
Djokovic, now an even stronger candidate for the prestigious title of G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time), is at the height of his career. With Federer retired from the game and Nadal in the midst of battling injury issues, his time to conquer the sport of tennis is now. Instead of letting his veteran experience hold him back, he uses it to his advantage to play optimally on every type of court and to beat every different type of player. As he graciously expressed in his US Open Championship awards ceremony interview, “the last couple of years, I felt I have a chance, I have a shot for history, and why not grab it if it’s presented?”
