Novak Djokovic stares into Paris abyss

Paris: They came, they saw but never conquered and now Novak Djokovic is staring into the same Paris abyss that swallowed up the Grand Slam ambitions of Pete Sampras, Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker.

 

The world number one lost his third final in four years at Roland Garros on Sunday when his hopes of becoming just the eighth man to complete a career Grand Slam were swept away by Stan Wawrinka's tide of killer one-handed backhands.

 

His 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 defeat left Djokovic on eight majors — five Australian Opens, two Wimbledons and a single US Open success — against eight defeats in finals at the majors.

Djokovic will be back in 2016, when he will be 29, for another attempt, his 12th in total, but statistics and history threaten to conspire against him.

 

Sampras won 14 majors — seven Wimbledons, five titles in New York and two in Australia. But 13 times the great American tried to win the French Open and 13 times he failed.

Edberg won twice each in Australia, Wimbledon and at the US Open, but like Sampras, Edberg played 13 times at Roland Garros, and failed. 

 

Becker, who was close at hand on Sunday as Djokovic's coach, tried nine times to win the French Open and add the title to his three Wimbledons, two Australian and one US Open. But he had to settle for three semifinal spots in 1987, 1989 and 1991.

 

John McEnroe also flopped in Paris, the four-time US Open and three-time Wimbledon winner having to console himself with a runners-up spot against Ivan Lendl in 1984. Djokovic was in tears by the end of Sunday’s final, although he insisted he'd keep trying to secure the title. The gut feeling remains that this year was his best opportunity, having disposed of nine-time winner Nadal in the quarterfinals and long-time rival Andy Murray in the semifinals.