Novak Djokovic, the number one tennis player in the world, won the Rolex Paris Masters tournament today. The Djoker, as his fans like to call him, finally won a tournament today for the first time since painfully getting embarrassed in the final of the US Open in September.
This tournament win was significant for four reasons. First, Djokovic won a record 37th Masters title by avenging his US Open defeat against Russian Daniil Medvedev with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. Master series tournaments are a step below the four major tournaments but still hold great importance. This is also Novak’s record-extending sixth Paris Masters win and guaranteed that the Serb will finish the year No. 1 for the record seventh time.
This feat officially put him ahead of his previously more heralded Big Three rivals. Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer have been dubbed The Big Three for a few years because of their torrid pace of winning major tournaments. The US Open, Wimbledon, The French Open, and The Australian Open are the major tournaments and the biggest prize in tennis. Every player’s goal is to win as many of these tournaments as possible. Winning one of these is the equivalent, for tennis players, of winning the Super Bowl.
The record for major tournament wins was held by Pete Sampras with 14 wins. He held this record since 2001, and no one ever thought it would be broken. But The Big Three now all have won 20 of them. Federer and Nadal started winning majors well before Novak did, and he wasn’t liked by fans at the beginning of his career. But now Djoker has won 3 majors this year alone, 20 majors overall, and now has more Masters tournament wins than any other man in history. He has now surpassed his two rivals, and I’m sure he will continue to increase his legacy over the next few years.
Article by: Chris Steele, iHearts143Quotes Team member
