Novak Djokovic’s Misses in 2016

Staying no. 1 for 200 weeks straight has affected the Serbian for sure; he has missed out on a lot of great opportunities this year including the Rio Olympic’s and the US Open as well. Here is a look at the potential records that the Serbian was expected to achieve but couldn’t.

Highest win record against the top 10

At the start of this year, Djokovic had already crossed Boris Becker’s world number two record of 65%, and this year was expected to pass Bjorn Borg’s record  of 70%, nevertheless his two losses have left him at 68 % as of now.

He still is a favorite for 2017 and is expected to break the existing record or at least tie with Borg for the first place.

The masters 1000: Cincinnati Title favorite

After winning the Madrid open, he was in for a full career masters 1000 title sweep with the Cincinnati  title on the way which in fact he had to drop out of due to a recurring wrist injury.

He was beaten by Sam Querrey in the 3rd round in the Olympics as well suffering from the same injury.

As of now, he is still recovering and there’s a good chance that he’ll be winning all the master’s titles next year and become the only man to do so.

Most masters title record

Currently, Rafael Nadal is the holder of the most masters titles ever won, 27 and counting. At the start of 2016 , Djokovic had 20 and he increased he number up to 26 winning all the ones that came along, before the Monte Carlo masters.

Losing the 2nd match in a total of 30 matches till this tournament , Djokovic shocked his fans yet again after losing to the 55th seed Jiri Vesely.

For Vesely, he had an advantageous win , beating Djokovic 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, winning from a top 10 seed for the first time, losing the previous 9 attempts.

Most no. of slams in a row

Only 5 players till date had surpassed Roy Emerson’s record of winning the most number of slams, Nadal has 14 and Federer has 17. At the start of this year’s tennis season it was expected that he’ll be surpassing both Roy Emerson’s and Nadal’s grand number, but losing the US Open to Wawrinka, has left him behind.

A medical timeout was the reason this time, all his winnings and the pressure has finally taken a toll on him. He admitted that his nerve failed him this time which led to a 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 defeat by Wawrinka during the finals at the flushing meadows.

Highest number of match wins

As of 2015, he was already in the 2nd position and was expected that this year would be breaking Roger Federer’s record of 80 match wins.

But this year’s losses , early outs from Slams, have left him short of quite a few number of matches, i.e. 57 match wins this year.

However with a fresh start in 2017 and after his surgical recovery,

It is foreseeable that he’ll be breaking this one .

Defending the US Open

The last time the US Open was defended was in 2008 by Roger Federer,

This time, Djokovic could have but had to drop out of it.

“I think that’s what decided the match. I guess sometimes it happens, even though you have the experience and know what to do.

“Just the heat of the moment and importance of the match, I guess, you know, was too strong for me at certain periods of the match. Just if you lose your cool, the match can go away.“

Djokovic sparked up a controversy during the 1-3, 2-5 down in the fourth set when he asked for and was granted a medical timeout for treatment on his feet.

Most number of consecutive titles

Don Budge was the only one who had won 6 titles in a row , the last one in 1938.

This time, Djokovic had a chance to break this streak. Also, Rod Laver had a set a record of winning each title exactly twice , all 4 in a row, once in 1962 then again in ’69.

Djokovic also was going for this but this year did not work in his favor as much he and his fans would have liked.

Djokovic sparked up a controversy at 1-3, 2-5 down in the fourth set when he asked for and was granted a medical timeout for treatment on his foot.

Winning the French open and the Olympic medal simultaneously

Having lost the last 3 finals till 2015, this year he won the French open and went on to win the Olympic medal at Rio, if he would have done this he would have become the 3rd man in this era to would have done so but alas, he lost to Del Potro in the first round itlself.

“No doubt this is one of the toughest losses in my life and in my career,” he said. “It’s not easy to handle, especially now, just after the wounds are still fresh.

“But, you know, you have to deal with it. It’s not the first or the last time that I have lost a tennis match. But the Olympic Games, yeah, it’s completely different.”