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Novak Djokovic, the third and youngest member of men's tennis' Big-3 trifecta (the others being Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal), has carved out a niche for himself particularly due to his exploits in the game during the last decade.
Djokovic's tallies of Grand Slam titles (16) are only behind those of Federer (20) and Nadal (19) while the Serb's 34 Masters 1000 triumphs are only behind Nadal's all-time mark of 35.
During the early part of the decade, Djokovic ended his 3-year wait for a second major breakthrough by winning his 2nd title at the 2011 Australian Open. The Serb then embarked on a stunning 41-0 start to the season, encompassing title runs in Dubai, Indian Wells, Belgrade, Miami, Madrid, and Rome before falling to Roger Federer in the Roland Garros semifinals. Continuing a banner season, the Serb beat Nadal in the Wimbledon and US Open finals to quadruple his Grand Slam tally.
In an even better 2015 season, Djokovic became the first player since Federer (2009) to reach the final at all four Grand Slam tournaments in a season, falling for a third time in as many title matches at the French Open. The season witnessed Djokovic become the first player to reach 8 Masters 1000 finals, winning a record 6 of those in a single season.
At the 2016 French Open, Djokovic became the fifth player to win the coveted career Grand Slam, and the first player since Rod Laver (1969) to hold all four major titles. The Serb won a record 7th title at the Australian Open in 2019 and went on to become the first Wimbledon champion in 71 years to save multiple championship points following a defeat of Federer in a historic first-ever Wimbledon match to feature a 5th set tiebreak. In the process, Djokovic improved his Slam tally to 16.
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During the 2010s decade, Djokovic tallied 630 wins and exactly 100 losses, which was more than the next best tallies of Federer (559-109) and Nadal (576-106) respectively during the period. Djokovic met 174 different opponents during the 2010s, failing to beat only 5 players led by Nick Kyrgios (2). The Serb went perfect against 129 opponents. On that note, let us meet five players whom Djokovic met the most number of times during the decade:
#5 Kei Nishikori: 18 matches
In 18 meetings with Japan's Kei Nishikori during the 2010s decade, Djokovic emerged triumphant on 16 occasions.
But one of two defeats for Djokovic against Nishikori came in the semifinals at the 2014 US Open, the other coming in the 2011 Basel semifinals as the Japanese took the lead (2-1) for the first time in the pair's rivalry.
It would be the last time Nishikori would taste a win against Djokovic as the Serb would go 15-0 in the pair's as many following meetings - a run that included Masters 1000 final wins in 2016 (Miami and Montreal).
#4 Tomas Berdych: 26 matches
Tomas Berdych beat an injured Djokovic in the 2017 quarterfinals which marked only the third time the Czech player beat the Serb in 26 career meetings all of which took place in the 2010s decade. It ended Djokovic's 13-match win streak against Berdych since a defeat in the 2013 Rome quarterfinals.
Berdych's only other win over Djokovic came in the pair's third meeting when the tall Czech beat Djokovic in the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals en route to his maiden Slam final where he went down to Rafael Nadal in straight sets.
Three of Djokovic's 61 titles in the 2010s decade came at the expense of the Czech - 2013 Dubai, 2014 Beijing, and 2015 Monte Carlo Masters respectively.
#3 Andy Murray: 29 matches
In 29 meetings with his good friend Andy Murray during the 2010s, Djokovic won on 21 occasions.
However, Murray won 2 (of 3) Grand Slam titles (2012 US Open and 2013 Wimbledon), lone ATP Finals title (2016), and 3 (of 14) Masters 1000 titles at the expense of the Serb. Murray's 2 other wins over Djokovic came in the 2012 Dubai and 2012 London Olympics semifinals.
Djokovic generally dominated his rivalry with Murray during this period, beating the Scot in 4 Australian Open finals (2011, 2013, 2015-16) and the 2016 French Open final, besides racking up Masters 1000 final wins at 2012 Miami, 2012 Shanghai, 2015 Miami, 2015 Paris-Bercy and 2016 Madrid, and the 2017 Doha title (ATP 250).
Djokovic became the first player since Rod Laver (1969) to hold all 4 Grand Slam titles by beating Murray in a four-set 2016 Roland Garros final.
#2 Rafael Nadal: 33 matches
Djokovic dominated his rivalry with Rafael Nadal in the 2010s, winning 21 of the pair's 33 matches. The Serb went 3-3 with the Spaniard in Slam finals during this period and 15-7 in all tournament finals.
Djokovic beat Nadal in 7 consecutive finals from 2011 Indian Wells to the 2012 Australian Open and is the only player to beat the Spaniard at Roland Garros (also Robin Soderling) when he beat the 9-time champion in straight sets in the 2015 quarterfinals.
Lasting 5 hours 53 minutes, the 2012 Australian Open title clash between Djokovic and Nadal became the longest ever Grand Slam final. The Serb is also the only player to hand Nadal a straight-set defeat in a Slam final (2019 Australian Open).
The 2010s decade saw Djokovic claim the lead in the pair's head-to-head for the very first time. Djokovic and Nadal's clash in the 2017 Madrid quarterfinals (won by Nadal) was an Open Era record 50th meeting between the pair. Djokovic is 9-0 over Nadal in the pair's last 9 clashes outside of clay and is 14-2 in the pair's last 16 non-clay meetings. Nadal's lone pair of wins during this period came in the 2013 Coupe Rogers and the 2013 US Open.
#1 Roger Federer: 35 matches
Like in his rivalry with his fellow Big-3 peer Nadal, Djokovic also dominated his rivalry with Roger Federer in the 2010s, winning 21 of the pair's 35 meetings during the period as he took the lead in the pair's head-to-head for the very first time.
Against Federer, Djokovic went 4/4 in Slam finals, 2/2 in ATP Finals finals (2014 final where Federer withdrew before the match does not count as a win but counts in Djokovic's overall title tally), 5/8 in Masters 1000 finals and 1/1 in ATP 500 finals (2015 Dubai). At the 2018 Cincinnati final against Federer, Djokovic tasted victory for the first time in 6 title matches at the tournament to become the first player to win the career Masters (all 9 Masters 1000 tournaments during the course of one's career).
Djokovic saved match points against Federer in consecutive US Open semifinals in 2010-11 A pair of saved championship points in the 2019 Wimbledon final in a historic first-ever Wimbledon match to feature a 5th set tiebreak made Djokovic the first Wimbledon champion in 71 years to save match points in the final as Federer was denied a record-extending 9th title at the tournament.
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A defeat to Federer in the third round-robin match at the 2019 ATP Finals was Djokovic's 100th of the decade as the Serb lost for the first time against Federer in 6 matches dating back to the pair's round-robin clash at the 2015 edition of the same competition. Federer had also stopped Djokovic from equalling McEnroe's record of best ever-start to a season (42-0) when he beat the Serb in the 2011 Roland Garros semifinals, in the process handing Djokovic a first defeat of the season in 42 matches.
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