Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were together at Wimbledon’s Centre Court again last week. Only this time, the Swiss legend was in the stands cheering for his former opponent.
Djokovic is the last man standing from the “Big 3” (Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic) era. While his main goal continues to be that elusive record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title, there are other milestones that he could pick up on the way.
Here, we specifically look at four Federer milestones that Djokovic could still reach before deciding to hang up his tennis racket.
Novak Djokovic one short of Roger Federer’s US Open titles
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Federer’s big wins at the US Open came in back-to-back years starting 2004. He beat Lleyton Hewitt in straight-sets that year to kick off an incredible streak. He would go unbeaten at the tournament over the next four years, beating Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the summit clash in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively.
For Djokovic, the first taste of success at the US Open came in 2011 when he beat Rafeal Nadal in the final. He would go on to lift the trophy again in 2015, 2018 and 2023. The Serb will already be chasing a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title in New York soon. The prospect of equalling Federer’s tally will be a nice added bonus.
One shy of Roger Federer's record eight Wimbledon triumphs
Much like the US Open, Novak Djokovic finds himself trailing Roger Federer in the Wimbledon tally by just one. The former has won tennis’ oldest tournament on seven occasions and the latter on eight.
Djokovic’s first win came in 2011, almost a decade after Federer. The Swiss legend triumphed at Wimbledon every year between 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2017. In the last of those finals, he beat Djokovic in a close contest.
The Serb has had his fair share of success at the All England Club, winning the title again in 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. He, however, was stopped from progressing into the final by eventual champion Jannik Sinner.
For the seven-time champ, a shot at Federer’s record will have to wait at least until next year. But given his skillset, an eighth title may not be as unlikely.
Novak Djokovic's 100 titles only three short of Roger Federer
Tennis is a demanding sport involving a lot of travel. That said, for someone like Novak Djokovic, putting in the work is not the issue. He lifted a milestone 100th career title at Geneva in 2025.
While not a bad number by any means, it is still three shy of the tournament victories posted by Roger Federer over the course of his playing years. The Swiss player’s first title came at Marseille Open a quarter of century ago. He would go on to lift titles across all levels on Tour, with his last being the Swiss Indoors. It took his tally up to a staggering 103.
At 100, Djokovic is not far off. Winning three or more to overpass Federer’s count will not come easy but is still a very real mathematical possibility.
Number of weeks spent inside the top 10
Both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have spent significant amount of time at the top of the men’s game. The Swiss player cracked into the top-10 for the first time after winning the Hamburg Open in 2002. By the end of his career, he had spent a total of 986 weeks (the most by any player) in the elite bracket.
Djokovic, too, was one of the steadiest presences in the top-10. He does, however, trail Federer by a significant margin of 68 weeks.
For the Serb to take over the list, he will have to sustain the level for at least a year and 16 more weeks. His recent showings at Grand Slams shows that while Djokovic may be a tad slower than Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz, he remains virtually untouchable for the others.
In that sense, he could well close in on the 968 weeks.
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