Wimbledon 2021

20 is the magic number. Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon, his 20th Grand Slam singles title. This puts him in a tie with Roger Federer and Rafael as male tennis players with the most major trophies. Incredible!

60 titles.
18 years.
3 legends.

One golden era 🌟#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/AwCJLmkDxC

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2021

Roy Emerson previously held the men's record with 12 Grand Slam titles, a feat he achieved in 1967. That record stood for more than 30 years until Pete Sampras broke it by winning his 13th major in 2000. Sampras went on to win one more in 2002, upping his haul to 14 Grand Slam titles. Compare that to the women. At the time that Sampras held the men's record, 5 women had more major singles titles than him - Margaret Court (24), Steffi Graf (22), Helen Wills Moody (19), Martina Navratilova (18), and Chris Evert (18). Of course, since then, Serena Williams has taken the women's open era record with 23 and is still in the hunt to match Court's count.

Now, we see three men winning 20 Grand Slam singles titles. What's even more mind-boggling is that they won these majors while playing in the same era! If one or two of them weren't playing, the other/s could have already broken Court's record by now. Witnessing the Big Three demolish records or add to the records they already own is just special; it truly is the Golden Era in men's tennis.

But let's go back to Wimbledon. Novak won it, beating Matteo Berrettini in the final over four competitive sets. This now means that Novak has won all thee majors played this year. If he wins the US Open, he will achieve the Grand Slam. If he also wins the Olympics in Tokyo, he will win the Golden Slam, a feat achieved only by Steffi Graf (so far). It will be very interesting to see if Djokovic achieves this but what he has going for him is the fact that he is fit and no other tennis player can match his mental strength. If anyone can match Steffi's legendary achievement, it is Novak.

Congratulations also to Ashleigh Barty who won the women's title. This is her second Grand Slam title after winning the French Open in 2019. She has been the women's #1 player since September 2019 and this win shows just why she is at the top of women's tennis. Interestingly enough, Ashleigh won the Girls' Junior title at Wimbledon 10 years ago. If she manages to keep playing close to the level she played this tournament, it won't be surprising if she wins more major titles and stays on as the top female tennis player.