‘It’s emotionally and physically exhausting’ - Tennis legend examines issue that ‘cost’ Novak Djokovic Calendar Grand Slam in 2021

A Calendar Grand Slam is the biggest and rarest achievement in tennis. There are only a handful of players to do so, highlighting the difficulty of achieving the feat. It requires a player to perform well in four different tournaments and on three surfaces in three different continents over 9 months.

Modern-day great Novak Djokovic came very close to winning a Calendar Grand Slam in 2021, but ultimately, he didn’t. A player needs to win 28 matches, and while Djokovic was almost there, a major obstacle stood in his way to deny him the historic feat — the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

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The emotional and mental part gets you down: Martina Navratilova

One of tennis's greatest players, Martina Navratilova, has examined why Djokovic failed to win a Calendar Grand Slam. According to her, the Tokyo Olympics "cost" the Serbian a massive feat, because the international multi-sport event took a heavy toll on his mental and physical fitness.

“It’s easier to come back to playing on clay, like you played a few weeks ago, than on hard courts. That’s when your body starts to give in because hard courts are much harder on your body,” said Navratilova speaking on the Tennis Channel.

“So on the surface, I don’t think players have any issues with this. It’s just the emotional and physical toll of playing an extra-massive event in the middle of the summer.

“Basically, two weeks after Wimbledon is over, the Olympics start and the best players who have played here have really had a very short recovery period and then they are there. And it is emotionally exhausting and physically exhausting. And then they go out on the hard courts.

“I think they’re going to be very, very, very fired up at the US Open. I think they’ll be fine for the Olympics, but how much energy do they have? I think it cost Novak Djokovic the Grand Slam three years ago and now they’re doing it again. It’s going to be tough. More than the surface, it’s just the emotional and mental part that gets you down," she added. 

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