Newly-crowned Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic doesn’t see the dominance of the so-called “big four” ending anytime soon.
The five-time Melbourne Park title-holder, who overcame Andy Murray in four sets in in the men’s final on Sunday night, says there’s still a large gap between the elite and the rising stars of the game.
The world No.1, who cut a weary figure the day following the match, said he thought the top-four ranked players – Murray, Nadal and Roger Federer – were still a cut above the rest.
“The gap is narrowed but it’s still a long way for the new wave of tennis stars with the likes of (Milos) Raonic, (Grigor) Dimitrov and (Kei) Nishikori to make that step and break the domination of the top four guys,” Djokovic said.
“They are close and they are challenging and they are knocking on the door but still if you see the winners of the grand slams it is still the top four guys.
“Of course last year we had (Stan) Wawrinka and (Marin) Cilic which are two new names but the young players still have to work to get there.”
After spending some time at home with his wife Jelena and new baby Stefan, Djokovic will start preparations for the the French Open.
Despite another Australian Open triumph and and under-done Rafael Nadal’s quarter-final exit, Djokovic said the nine-time champion would again start clear favourite.
Djokovic lost the 2014 final to Nadal in four sets while he also lost the 2012 final to the Spaniard.
“It’s a grand slam, playing best of five on the slowest surface that is physically demanding and that’s something that makes it more difficult,” he said when asked why the title had so far eluded him.
“In terms of winning against Nadal, he has lost only one match in his entire career in this court so that’s probably the most impressive record of all time in the history of the game in any tournament.”
Djokovic said he was very proud to win eight major titles and felt there were “two or three to come”.
He said he didn’t begrudge sharing the spotlight with greats like Federer and Nadal, who have 17 and 14 grand slams respectively. Murray has two from eight finals.
“This is the generation we are in.
“There are four players who are incredibly good and very few points decide the winners.
“I believe that Nadal and Federer and even Andy made me a better player and made me understand what I needed to do to improve my game to get on their level.
“In another era I maybe would be in double figures already but I am a better player as a consequence of being a rival of theirs.”
