"He's progressed into this great champion" - When Pete Sampras called Novak Djokovic's 2011 season the best ever

Novak Djokovic's 2011 season is one of the greatest year-round performances in tennis history, if not the greatest. The Serb won 70 out of 76 matches that season with 10 titles to his name, including three Grand Slams.

Djokovic won the Australian Open by defeating Andy Murray in the final and also triumphed at Wimbledon and the US Open, beating Rafael Nadal in the title clash on both occasions.

Apart from his Grand Slam triumphs, the Serb also won five Masters 1000 titles. He completed the Sunshine Double by winning the Indian Wells and Miami Masters (beat Nadal in both finals), following which he won the Madrid Open and the Italian Open (beat Nadal in both finals).

He also triumphed at the Canadian Open, then known as the Rogers Cup (beat Mardy Fish in the final). As expected, Djokovic's exploits during the 2011 season saw him become the World No. 1 for the first time in July.

The Serb dominated men's tennis during that year ahead of the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and the season he enjoyed is considered to be one of the very best in the sport's history by pundits and fans alike.

Former World No. 1 Pete Sampras was among them, claiming that the Serb's 2011 season was the best he'd ever seen in his lifetime while speaking to the Palm Beach Post that year. Sampras hailed Djokovic's mentality and said that he progressed into a "great champion," even better than what he had expected of the Belgrade native in his early days.

“At least in my lifetime, the best ever. I always thought Novak was a bit temperamental and would go through these lapses that would prevent him from winning Majors, and now you look, he lost the first two sets against Roger and boom! He recovered within a couple of minutes. He’s got a short memory now. He’s progressed into this great champion," Sampras said.

Pete Sampras called Novak Djokovic the greatest of all time

Novak Djokovic and Pete Sampras during the 2019 Indian Wells Masters

Novak Djokovic surpassed Pete Sampras' record for the most year-end World No. 1 finishes at 7, doing so in 2021. Sampras hailed the Serb's accomplishment that year and called him the greatest tennis player of all time because of his consistency and titles over the years.

"I do think what Novak's done over the past 10 years, winning the majors, being consistent, finishing No. 1 for seven years, to me it's a clear sign that he is the greatest of all time," Sampras said.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion recently set a new record for the most number of weeks as World No. 1 for any singles player, male or female, in the Open Era, surpassing Steffi Graf's record of 377 weeks. The Serb is currently in his 379th week at the top of the ATP rankings.