Novak Djokovic will never have a better opportunity to achieve a historic calendar Grand Slam, which former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash says he should prioritise at all costs.
The Serbian won a sixth Wimbledon crown on Sunday, defeating Matteo Berrettini in four sets to achieve a final victory that moved him on to 20 grand slam titles.
With Australian Open and French Open successes also already achieved, glory at the US Open would see Djokovic become only the second men's player in Open Era history to win all four majors in the same year.
Cash thinks the stars have aligned for Djokovic, with issues for his main rivals leaving the 34-year-old primed to achieve the famous feat in 2021.
"The impossible dream really is there," Cash said to Stats Perform.
"For Novak this year it is a great opportunity for him to grab a bunch of grand slams and grab all the titles.
"Certainly Wimbledon – without disrespecting the other players – was one of the weaker men's side draws that I've seen in many, many years.
"And that's because we've got two of the big stars coming back from injuries – Andy Murray and Roger Federer – who played well but weren't at the peak of their career.
"The younger players are coming through but they're not quite there yet and Novak is just sitting on top of that mountain as the King of the Castle.
"His performance was exceptional at Wimbledon, there's no doubts about it.
"The slightly younger players are coming through – Berrettini obviously in the final really pushed him to just about the limit.
"Stefanos Tsitsipas in the French Open final up two sets to love. So, these guys are close, very close, and it won't be long before they catch up with Novak and the others.
"Obviously Rafa [Nadal] was out of this Wimbledon as well – I don't really think he's a serious threat on the grass anymore but he's still a great competitor.
"So these guys are catching up, Rafa is still there, maybe Murray will come back and Federer will come back and be in better shape in the next year – but this is the year that Novak can really grab."
Djokovic admitted this week he is still "50/50" over whether he will take part in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics due to coronavirus countermeasures in the Japanese capital.
Federer withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday and Cash insists Tokyo will not be the priority over glory in New York for Djokovic.
Cash added: "It's the Olympics, okay – maybe he wants to do that, but certainly his goal is now to try and win all four grand slams in the calendar year.
"He has done four in a row, but he hasn't done them in the same year, which is very, very tough to do.
"There is a reason why I think one person has done it in [men's] professional tennis – Rod Laver and it was in 1969, so it's not easy to do.
"But I really do think it's in his sights and that has got to be his priority.
"It's absolutely the absolute peak of our sport to win all four grand slams in one year."
With Djokovic now level with Federer and Nadal on 20 majors, Cash would not be surprised to see him build a big lead.
He added: "Look, it's very hard to say. We have all been proven wrong by the numbers.
"Though most of us thought that Rafa and Novak would get pretty close to Federer, we didn't really think they'd get there and beyond.
"I think Novak is likely to win another couple, but you know, it takes us one little injury [to derail him] so it is very hard to say.
"John McEnroe said 25 or so [for Djokovic] and that could be well within his reach at the moment.
"He's improving and that's frightening to think. He's won 19 grand slams before Wimbledon, and all of a sudden we've seen this guy come to the net, volley, add another string to his bow to become a better player.
"Yeah, age 34 and he is improving – that's pretty frightening."
Zheng sets up Sabalenka meeting after reaching first WTA 1000 final in Wuhan
Zheng Qinwen is through to the Wuhan Open final after a straight-sets win over Wang Xinyu.
In a historic, first-ever all-Chinese semi-final at a WTA 1000 event, Zheng reached her first such final, prevailing 6-3 6-4.
There was little to separate the two in the opening exchanges – just as Zheng edged in front with the first break in the fourth game, Wang responded, levelling the scores back at 3-3.
However, Zheng rallied, successfully defending a break point on her way to winning the last three games in a row to take the first set.
Wang faced 12 break points throughout the match, but failed to defend one in the second-set opener, before protecting three as she took a 2-1 lead.
Despite her fight, the Olympic gold medallist dug deep once more, getting two back-to-back breaks in order to clinch clinching the match.
She will face Aryna Sabalenka, who has never lost a match in Wuhan, in the final on Sunday.
Data Debrief: Home favourite
It has been a banner year for Zheng, who is also still in with a chance of qualifying for the WTA finals. Including the Olympics, she has reached the final of four events during 2024, the most she has managed during a single season.
Only Qiang Wang and Shuai Peng (four each) have made more WTA level finals on Chinese soil than Zheng (three, Zhengzhou and Zhuhai in 2023 and Wuhan in 2024) among Chinese players in the Open Era.
In fact, Zheng is just the second Chinese player to reach the final of a WTA 1000 event since the introduction of the format in 2009, after Li Na.
Djokovic overcomes injury scare to set up Sinner final in Shanghai
Novak Djokovic is just one game away from securing a 100th Tour-level title after reaching the Shanghai Masters final with a straight-sets triumph over Taylor Fritz.
Djokovic needed a medical timeout deep into the second set, but was able to hold on to secure a 6-4 7-6 (8-6) victory to set up an encounter with Jannik Sinner in the final.
The Serbian missed three break points in the opening game, but was able to get his nose in front in the fifth game after breaking the American's serve.
Djokovic held his serve for the remainder to gain the early advantage, moving within touching distance of a record-extending 59th Masters 1000 final and his first of 2024.
But Fritz responded well in the second set, despite Djokovic producing some stunning tennis that included a brilliant backhand winner in the fifth game which drew applause from his American opponent.
The pair continued to trade blows, with a tie-break deciding whether the game would go the distance or Djokovic would reach a record fifth final in Shanghai.
And Djokovic held his nerve, fighting back from 5-3 down to seal his progression to Sunday's showpiece, becoming the 13th different ATP Masters 1000 finalist so far this year.
Data Debrief: Djokovic one away from history
With a fifth final at the Shanghai Masters, surpassing Andy Murray (four) for the outright most at the event, Djokovic has now reached five or more finals at each of the current ATP Masters 1000 events on hard court.
Fritz is now the sixth opponent Djokovic has defeated in each of their opening 10 head-to-head meetings at ATP level, along with Andreas Seppi, Gael Monfils, Jeremy Chardy, Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic.
Only Jimmy Connors (164), Roger Federer (157) and Ivan Lendl (146) in the Open Era have reached more ATP event finals than the Serbian (141).
Sabalenka reaches third straight Wuhan final with comeback Gauff win
Aryna Sabalenka produced a stunning comeback to reach the Wuhan Open final, coming from a set and a break down to end Coco Gauff's nine-match winning run.
In a repeat of their Australian Open semi-final clash in January, Sabalenka again emerged victorious, winning 1-6 6-4 6-4 in two hours and 28 minutes.
Gauff wasted no time in stamping her authority on the contest, breaking Sabalenka's serve in consecutive games to race into a comfortable 5-0 lead in the opening set.
Sabalenka eventually get her first point on the board in the sixth game, but the damage had already been done, with Gauff claiming the early advantage, dropping just 13 points in doing so.
The second set saw both players fail to hold serve, with the first five games seeing consecutive break points before Gauff took control, only for Sabalenka to win the next two games on the spin and hold on to take the encounter the distance.
Sabalenka started brightly in the decider, taking an early 3-0 lead, with the third game seeing 19 points contested before the Belarusian hammered home her advantage.
The American managed to claw her way back into the contest, though, winning three games on the spin. But Sabalenka broke one final time, with Gauff striking her 21st double fault to seal Sabalenka's progression to the final.
Sabalenka will face the winner of the first all-Chinese semi-final at a WTA 1000 event between Qinwen Zheng and Xinyu Wang's on Sunday.
Data Debrief: Super Sabalenka
Sabalenka hit 31 winners during the contest, becoming the first player to hit 1000 winners in WTA-1000 since Opta collects this data in 2021.
The Belarusian also became the player with the joint most finals reached in WTA events held in China in the Open Era (six), level with Alison Riske & Jelena Jankovic.
She is now the player with the most main draw wins at the Wuhan Open since the tournament's inception in 2014, equalling Petra Kvitova's total of 16.
Only Jannik Sinner (eight, including Shanghai) has made more Tour level finals than Sabalenka in 2024 (seven, including Wuhan).
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