“I don't think he's one to ever get ahead of himself” - Jimmy Connors on Novak Djokovic's Calendar Slam dreams
Former World No. 1 Jimmy Connors believes that Novak Djokovic will not be thinking about the Calender Grand Slam right now.
While Djokovic has broken or set several records over the last two decades, one of the few elusive ones has been the Calendar Slam — which sees a player win all four Majors in a year. The only male player to achieve this was Rod Laver in 1969.
Djokovic came close to emulating Laver when he won the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon Championships in 2021 before losing to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final.
Having won the Australian Open and Roland Garros titles this season, the Serbian heads into Wimbledon next, where he is a four-time defending champion. With the form he has been in, there has been talk of Djokovic aiming for the Calender Slam this year.
Eight-time Grand Slam champion Connors is of the opinion that Djokovic is seasoned enough to not look beyond Wimbledon right now.
“I think he’ll just go into auto mode. He had the opportunity a number of years ago and he was one match short of winning the Grand Slam. I don't think you go in thinking about that, you got to win Wimbledon. Before you can win the Grand Slam, you got to win Wimbledon. He's won the Australian [Open], won the French [Open]. You can look ahead or think whatever you want, but unless you win this tournament, you got no shot at winning it,” he said on the Advantage Connors podcast.
“I think you go into just taking care of your business and what it takes to win and play the best tennis you can now at this time. He knows what it's all. He's been there, he's done it and he's won 23 Grand Slams,” he added.
Connors further stated that Djokovic has always gone about his work methodically and will be fully focused on his first-round match against Pedro Cachin.
“I don't think he's one to ever get ahead of himself, he just goes and very methodically plays his matches and doesn't look ahead in the draw and figures out how he has to win his first round, how to get to the second round, to play his best tennis as he gets to the quarters, semis and then eventually the finals. So I don't see him getting ahead of himself,” he opined.
Novak Djokovic on the possibility of Calender Slam in 2023: “I'd like to get another chance to go for history again”
At a press conference at the 2023 French Open, Novak Djokovic stated his desire to have another go at the Calendar Slam.
While Djokovic admitted that he first needs to emerge victorious at Wimbledon to keep alive his dream of winning the Calendar Slam, he took confidence from the fact that he is the reigning four-time champion at SW19.
“I’d like to get another chance [for the Clander Slam] in New York. Of course, I have to win Wimbledon, which is a whole different mountain to climb. The fact that I won the last four Wimbledons gives me a lot of confidence and I look forward to that. I really do. I love playing there, that's the dream tournament, always has been for me,” he said, speaking on Tennis Channel.
Djokovic's quest for a fifth consecutive Wimbledon title and eighth overall gets underway with a clash against Pedro Cachin on Monday, July 3.