When Novak Djokovic talks about tennis, people stand to attention and listen to every single word that is spoken.
Although the greatest ever is an open debate between Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, it’s fair to say that the number of Grand Slams the Serbian will finish with does give him the edge.
Goran Ivanisevic recently claimed that Djokovic was the greatest ever and he ought to know, having been up close and personal with him as his coach for many years during his prime.
Djokovic is chasing Grand Slam number 25, but he’s now gone well over a year without winning a major title, with his last one coming at the US Open in 2023.
Back in 2011, the Serb came extremely close to winning all four Grand Slams in the same year but the French Open alluded him with Nadal proving an immovable object at Roland Garros once again.
Wimbledon has always been the tournament where he’s prospered the most, however, and although he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to tennis, one of his predictions made after his quarter-final hasn’t come to fruition.
What Novak Djokovic said about Bernard Tomic after Wimbledon in 2011
Djokovic talks a lot of sense when it comes to tennis, but his comments on Tomic haven’t been proved right, with the Australian player now scratching around on the Challenger Tour.
After Tomic came through qualifying at Wimbledon in 2011, he stunned the All England Club by beating Nikolay Davydenko, Igor Andreev, Robin Soderling and Xavier Malisse to set up a date with Djokovic in the last eight.
The Australian gave a good account of himself on Centre Court in the last eight, but Djokovic showed his class to run out a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 winner, going on to win the tournament.
After beating Tomic, Djokovic predicted positive things for the player, but they’ve never come to fruition.
He said in his press conference: “Look, you know he’s been playing really well, really well today. He’s been using the pace fantastically. You can see he’s really comfortable on the court. Obviously, what he lacks is a little bit more experience. But it comes with time. You know, I’m sure if it continues, he’s going to be a top player. It’s all a process of learning, he has a lot of time.”
Tomic has never made the top 10 in the ATP world rankings
At the time of this defeat for Tomic, he was just 18-years-old and coming through the ranks as a qualifier made for a great tournament for him.
However, that was as good as it got as far as a Grand Slam went for Tomic, with three runs to the fourth round at the Australian Open and a US Open third round the best it got for him after his Wimbledon exploits.
Tomic never even made it into the top 10 of the world rankings and although he’s still playing tennis as a professional, he’s now down at a lowly-ranked 219 in the world.
His highest ranking of 17 came in January 2016 and most recently, he was reaching the quarter-final of a challenger event in Mexico City, losing to Adrian Mannarino in three sets.
Djokovic will go down as one of the game’s all-timers but his claim on Tomic in 2011 goes down as one prediction that he wasn’t proven right over.
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