Can Novak Djokovic prove to be the exception and regain his supremacy?

By Dileep Premachandran

Just how good was Novak Djokovic at his best? You don’t have to traipse too far down memory lane for the answer. Starting with the Australian Open of 2011, where he beat Andy Murray in the final, and ending with the US Open final of 2016, where Stan Wawrinka proved too strong, Djokovic made 18 Grand Slam finals, winning 11 of them.

In June 2016, as he headed to Wimbledon to try and win a fourth title at SW19, he held all four Slams, an achievement unprecedented in the modern era. His win-loss record for 2015, a year in which he won three Slams [emulating his 2011 feat], was a mind-bending 82-6, and he began 2016 as though he meant to better even that.

Then, Sam Querrey happened in the third round on the Wimbledon lawns. At the time, it was seen as no more than a blip. But in years to come, it could have the same resonance as The Rumble in the Jungle, the Hillsborough disaster, and Eusebio’s magic, in terms of defining the end of an era. But perhaps the most apt comparison would be with Miguel Indurain, the Spanish cyclist who dominated the Tour de France in the first half of the 1990s. The man they called Big Mig – he was 6’2” and 80kg – was a superb time triallist who could also crush his opponents’ collective will on the arduous mountain stages.

Having won five in a row, he was on track to surpass Eddie Merckx, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, legends who had never managed to boss the race uninterrupted for half a decade. On July 6, 1996, the first mountain stage was a 200km ride from Chambéry to Les Arcs. But instead of eating into the lead and moving up the classification, Indurain – who had suffered with bronchitis in the first week – seemed to go backwards. He was even penalised 20 seconds for accepting a drinks bottle.

A fortnight later, he limped home in 11th place, more than 14 minutes behind Bjarne Riis, the Dane who would later admit that he had been guilty of doping that summer. There would be no sixth title.

Indurain’s intimidatory style had reminded some of the way a young George Foreman had cut a swathe through the heavyweight ranks in the early 1970s. In January 1973, Foreman didn’t just win the world title. He brutalized Joe Frazier, knocking him down six times in the opening two rounds.

By the time he took on the 32-year-old Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa, Foreman’s record was an awesome 40-0. With the vociferously pro-Ali crowd chanting ‘Ali, boma ye [Ali, kill him]!’ the younger man started with a barrage of punches, some of which ‘could have brought down a building’.

But as the fight wore on and Ali implemented his rope-a-dope tactics, Foreman slowed down like a wind-up toy. By round 8, he had nothing left. He would not fight again for over a year, and after losing a unanimous decision to Jimmy Young in March 1977, he retired at the age of 28. He would return a decade later and win world title belts at the age of 45, but by then, both Foreman and heavyweight boxing were wan shadows of what they once were.

Even great teams have hit the skids suddenly and gone into irreversible decline. Real Madrid won the first five European Cups (1956-60) – the last of them, with a 7-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt which is considered one of the greatest sporting performances ever – before making way for Eusebio’s Benfica, Internazionale of Milan and the first British wave, as Manchester United (1968) succeeded Glasgow Celtic’s Lisbon Lions.

Real’s victory in 1966, with a homegrown side superbly marshaled by Paco Gento, would be their last for more than three decades. As much domestic success as they enjoyed, there was only heartache in the competition that has come to define them. At least, Real are back atop the mountain now. One of the teams that once threatened their record has been treading water for a quarter century. Between 1973 and 1990, Liverpool won the English title 11 times. There were also four European Cups, two UEFA Cups, three FA Cups and four League Cups in a trophy cabinet creaking under the weight of success.

The Hillsborough tragedy in April 1989 changed everything. The club would win the league the following season, but the grief and trauma eventually caught up with everyone, including Kenny Dalglish, who had won the title three times in his five full seasons as manager.

More than 26 years after he quit, Liverpool have yet to add to those 18 top-flight titles. Dominance, once ceded, is rarely regained. Djokovic, now 30, will prove himself one of the greatest champions if he can turn back the clock.

*Dileep Premachandran was editor-in-chief of Wisden India