Novak Djokovic probably not thinking about Golden Slam; Rafael Nadal remains the favorite for French Open: Boris Becker
Tennis great Boris Becker believes Novak Djokovic is not pursuing a Golden Slam, and Rafael Nadal remains the favorite to win the 2023 French Open.
After entering his 378th week at the top of the men's rankings, Djokovic has surpassed Steffi Graf's record for most weeks as the highest-ranked player. The 22-time major winner has also held the record for most weeks as men's world number one since March 2021, overtaking Roger Federer.
Following that, Boris Becker told Eurosport that he believes Novak Djokovic isn't pursuing the Golden Slam (a Golden Slam is achieved when a player wins the four Grand Slam titles of the calendar year as well as an Olympic gold medal). Instead, Becker believes the Serb is more focused on winning his record 23rd Major.
"I personally don’t think Novak is thinking about the golden slam. I think he wants to win the 23rd major of his career, which would be the record," Becker said.
He went on to say that while 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal remains the 'favorite' to win the next Grand Slam at the French Open, the Serb is on his 'heels'.
"The next major is Roland-Garros, where, in my eyes, the favourite still is Rafael Nadal. But Novak is on his heels. So let’s see what these two great champions will deliver for us," Becker said.
"They are not only tennis icons, they are cultural icons" - Boris Becker on Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic have dominated men's tennis for nearly two decades. They have won 64 Majors between them, a figure that is likely to rise with the Swiss retiring and the Spaniard and Serb still swinging their racquets at full tilt.
In light of this, Boris Becker stated that the three of them are not only sports icons, but cultural icons as well, and that people will only truly understand how 'big' they are once they all retire.
"I think Djokovic, together with Nadal and Federer, are not only sport icons, they are cultural icons. They have a following that goes way beyond their respective countries - Serbia, Spain and Switzerland," Becker said.
"The impact that they have on tennis is huge. We will only truly understand how big they are once they all retire," he added.
The German went on to say that he hopes Djokovic and Nadal will continue to play for another year or two.
"I hope that Novak and Rafa will play for another year or two because we will benefit from that. They are not only tennis icons, they are not only sports icons, they are cultural icons," Becker stated.