Roger Federer had Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Nadal had injuries and Djokovic. Djokovic has ... Djokovic.
Which is why Djokovic could surpass Federer as the greatest tennis player of all time.
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Djokovic inched a step closer to Federer's record of 17 Grand Slam titles when he took out Andy Murray in straight sets of the Australian Open for his record-tying sixth championship Down Under and 11th overall, putting him in a tie for fifth place on the all-time list with Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver.
Only a near-perfect match from Stan Wawrinka at last year's French Open kept Djokovic from winning the calendar Grand Slam. As of this moment, he's the only one who can shoot for the calendar slam in 2016 and should be favored going into each one of those tournaments.
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Djokovic is 34-1 in his last 35 Grand Slam matches -- not a bad feat -- under the tutelage of coach Boris Becker.
"I cannot believe what I'm watching and Novak Djokovic is undoubtedly moving towards being considered the sport's all-time greatest player, and that's quite something, particularly in this generation, former Great Britain tennis player Andrew Castle told the BBC.
Goodbye Big Four. It's Nole's world, and the rest of the players are just living in it.
If Djokovic can achieve what he almost accomplished last year -- a calendar slam -- he would finish the year tied with Nadal and Pete Sampras for second place with 14 titles.
Former Australian Open finalist and Chris Evert's ex-husband John Lloyd sees the chase of Federer as a reachable goal for Djokovic, as long as the desire is there.
"He's got to keep the hunger," Lloyd told the BBC. "At some stage the desire to train four hours every day ends, but at the moment it hasn't.
"Players, whether they say it or not, love records. He's equaled Laver and Borg, he wants to win the French Open and wants to become the greatest player of all time. These are all incentives. They have to have something to keep motivating them and this guy wants to break records.
"He's still got another four great years in him. If he can keep the focus who knows how many more he can win."
The French Open is the one Grand Slam event that Djokovic has yet to capture. If he can manage that this year, he theoretically could surpass Federer by the 2017 U.S. Open.
As Serena Williams has shown in her last two slams, anything is possible, and playing at a level Djokovic is playing for another 18 months will be anything but easy.
But it'll be the difference between the greatest of all time and one of the all-time greats for Djokovic.
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