Novak Djokovic Makes History At Roland Garros

Friends,

Novak Djokovic battled back from two sets down to beat 22-year-old Greek phenom Stefanos Tsitsipas yesterday at Roland Garros, winning his 19th Grand Slam in a 5-set thriller.

The match lasted over four hours and brought Djokovic within one Grand Slam of 20, the current record held by Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer. Even better, the 34-year-old is heading home with $1.7 million in prize money.

Here’s how the winnings broke down for men’s & women’s singles:

• Winner: $1.7 million

• Runner-up: $907,000

• Semifinalists: $454,000

• Quarterfinalists: $308,000

• Round of 16: $206,000

• Third round: $137,000

• Second round: $101,000

• First round: $72,000

But in my opinion, the best match of the tournament happened on Friday: a semifinal masterpiece between two of the greatest ever to play the sport — Djokovic & Nadal.

Similar to Reggie Jackson in October, Michael Jordan in the NBA finals, or Tiger Woods wearing red on Sunday with the lead, there have been few things in sports more certain than Rafael Nadal winning at Roland Garros.

Here’s a stat to prove it: Since making his French Open debut in 2005, Rafael Nadal has lost just 3 matches over the last 17 years at Roland Garros. His total record is 105-3, including 35 straight wins and four titles (2017-20) leading into this year.

My favorite part? He’s done it wearing a $1 million Richard Mille watch while playing — the “RM 27-04”.

• Retails for $1.08 million

• Only 50 in existence

• It weighs less than one ounce

Selling out upon arrival, the watch would most likely cost more than $2 million at auction today.

All jokes aside, the match was incredible. After trailing 0-2 in the fourth set, Djokovic needed his best, and then some, to rattle off six consecutive games and hand Nadal his first loss at Roland Garros since 2015.

Heck, the third set alone had two 12-shot rallies, a 13-shot rally, and lasted more than 90 minutes in total — or roughly the same amount of time as an entire soccer match.

But the real question is, did this semifinal match fundamentally alter the history of tennis forever?

Three men have dominated the sport over the last two decades — Roger Federer (39-years-old), Rafael Nadal (35-years-old), and Novak Djokovic (34-years-old) — winning 60 out of the last 73 majors combined.

But more recently, after winning 5 of the last 9 majors, Djokovic has quietly closed the seemingly insurmountable gap between himself, Federer & Nadal — now trailing the all-time men’s major championship lead by just one.

Total Major Championships

• Roger Federer: 20 Grand Slams

• Rafael Nadal: 20 Grand Slams

• Novak Djokovic: 19 Grand Slams

Now, as the heavy favorite to win Wimbledon this summer, Novak Djokovic has the opportunity to mount a three-way tie atop the Mount Rushmore of men’s championship tennis.

Even more interesting? While Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal rank among the top three in career on-court earnings, Federer has utilized his star power from the 2000s to build one of the most incredible brands in sports history.

For example, despite only earning about $300,000 from tennis events last year — due to injuries — Roger Federer still brought home about $90 million as the 7th highest-paid athlete in the world.

Career On-Court Earnings

• Novak Djokovic: $148 million

• Roger Federer: $130 million

• Rafael Nadal: $125 million

2020-21 On-Court Earnings

• Novak Djokovic: $6 million

• Rafael Nadal: $3.3 million

• Roger Federer: $300,000

2020-21 Total Earnings (via Forbes)

• Roger Federer: $90 million

• Novak Djokovic: $34.5 million

• Rafael Nadal: ~$30 million

Then again, sometimes, money doesn’t tell the entire story.

Have a great day, and I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow.

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