Marion Bartoli claims Novak Djokovic's only "obsession" is to win 21st Grand Slam title
In a recent podcast appearance for Tennis Majors, former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli claimed that Novak Djokovic's only "obsession" is to win a 21st Grand Slam title. Bartoli feels the Serb's main goal is to overtake Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Grand Slam race.
Djokovic enjoyed an excellent 2021 season, winning three Grand Slam titles to move level with long-time rivals Federer and Nadal on 20 Majors.
Bartoli, on her part, feels surpassing Federer and Nadal will be Djokovic's biggest source of motivation going forward. The Frenchwoman reckons Djokovic will aim for more than 22 Majors to put breathing room between him and his rivals.
"I think ultimately, what Novak wants is to beat the 20 Grand Slams record. I think it's the only obsession he is having and when he walked away from that defeat against Sascha, I didn't see him in a lot of anger, you know he was not massively broken down," said Bartoli.
"The most important for him now was to beat Pete Sampras' record or finishing the year as World No. 1 and now it's just to get to 21 and 22 or more so that he makes sure that Federer and Nadal don't catch him back. I think that's going to be the only obsession he's going to have next year," added Bartoli.
Djokovic came close to completing the Calendar Slam at the US Open this year. But he was beaten by Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the final. The two also contested the Australian Open final earlier in the year and are currently ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the world.
As such, many feel there is a budding rivalry between Djokovic and Medvedev. On the podcast, Bartoli said she wouldn't categorize itit as a rivalry because of the huge "age gap" between the two players.
“On clay and on grass, for Daniil, it’s still a long way to go. And especially even more on clay. I don’t think you can call it a rivalry just because the age gap is too huge. They are not playing in the same era. Novak has been playing a decade before," mentioned Bartoli.
Can Novak Djokovic vs Daniil Medvedev develop into a fierce rivalry?
Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev faced each other in the final of two Grand Slams this year, with the Serb winning in Australia and the Russian coming out on top in New York.
As of now, Djokovic and Medvedev have crossed each other's paths on 10 occasions. The 20-time Grand Slam champion has a 6-4 lead in the head-to-head.
Considering the way the two have been playing in recent years, it's safe to say they will meet on plenty more occasions in the future.
Among the younger crop of players, Medvedev appears to be the best equipped to deal with Djokovic's game and will fancy his chances of taking the lead in the head-to-head in the next couple of seasons.
Medvedev and Djokovic are both set to begin their 2022 season at the ATP Cup in Sydney following which they will shift their focus to the Australian Open.