2021 Novak Djokovic tennis season

Djokovic was scheduled to appear in an Adelaide exhibition tournament, called "A Day at the Drive". He was supposed to play a match against Jannik Sinner. But, due to hand blisters, he chose to skip the match and prepare for the upcoming ATP Cup and the Australian Open. Fellow Serbian Filip Krajinović played and won the first set of the match by 6–3, but Djokovic made a surprise appearance to play the second set. Djokovic won the second set by 6–3, winning the match.

Novak Djokovic began his official season by taking part in Serbia's national team in the ATP Cup. Looking to defend the past year's title, Serbia met Canada and Germany in Group A. Djokovic defeated Denis Shapovalov in straight sets, and teamed with Filip Krajinović to defeat Shapovalov and Milos Raonic in doubles, to help Serbia defeat Canada. However, Serbia's tournament ended with a loss against Germany. Djokovic defeated Alexander Zverev in three sets, but lost in doubles with Nikola Ćaćić against Zverev and Jan-Lennard Struff.[3]

Djokovic started the Australian open with a straight sets win against Jérémy Chardy and a four-set win against Frances Tiafoe. Djokovic won a five-set thriller against Taylor Fritz in the third round, despite an injury scare. He continued his dominance at the Australian Open by overwhelming Milos Raonic and Zverev in four sets. He defeated Russians Aslan Karatsev and Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the semi-finals and finals, to win the Australian Open again. The victory marked his record-extending ninth men's singles title at the tournament, and also his 18th major title overall.[4]

Djokovic withdrew from the 2021 Miami Open, citing a desire to rest after the Australian Open and spend more time with family. He also wanted to prepare for the upcoming clay court season.[5]

After a straight sets win over Sinner, Djokovic was upset by Dan Evans in the third round, marking his first singles loss of the season.

After straight-sets wins over Kwon Soon-woo and compatriot Miomir Kecmanović, Djokovic lost in the semifinals to Karatsev in three tight sets.[6]

Djokovic started the defense of his Italian Open title with straight sets wins over Fritz and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. After this, he had an early scare, down a set and a break in a rainy match against Stefanos Tsitsipas that was postponed. The next day, he made a comeback and won. The same day, he also won his semifinal against Lorenzo Sonego in three sets. Djokovic then lost to Rafael Nadal in the final in three sets.[7]

Djokovic started the Serbia Open part 2 with straight sets wins over Mats Moraing and Federico Coria. After reaching the final with a three set win over Andrej Martin, Djokovic won his 83rd title, at home, defeating Alex Molčan in straight sets.[8]

Djokovic began with straight set wins against Tennys Sandgren, Pablo Cuevas, and Ričardas Berankis in the first three rounds. In the fourth round, Lorenzo Musetti led by two sets to love, but Djokovic then won all but one game afterwards; Musetti retired in the fifth set. After a four set win in the quarterfinals against Matteo Berrettini, Djokovic shockingly defeated Nadal in the semifinals in four brutal sets, only the second time he had beaten Nadal at Roland Garros, and only the third time Nadal lost at the event. Djokovic then defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final in five sets, after losing the first two. It was his 19th major title, and he completed a double Career Grand Slam. He became the first player in the Open Era to win a Major after coming back from a two-set deficit in two separate matches in the same tournament (in the fourth round and the final). He also became the first player to beat Nadal on the way to winning Roland Garros.[9]

Djokovic's grass-court season began at the Mallorca Championships, where he competed in doubles alongside Carlos Gómez-Herrera. The team advanced to the final, but they withdrew before the match due to an injury to Gómez-Herrera.[10]

Djokovic entered Wimbledon as the defending champion from 2019 and the favorite for the title. He won a four-set first round over British wildcard Jack Draper. He reached the final with five straight set wins, defeating Denis Kudla, former runner-up Kevin Anderson, Márton Fucsovics, Chilean seed Cristian Garín, and Denis Shapovalov. He then recovered from a one-set deficit in the final against Matteo Berrettini to claim his sixth Wimbledon title and 20th men's singles major title overall, equaling Roger Federer and Nadal's all-time record.

Djokovic opened his summer hard court season at the Tokyo Olympics, where he sought to improve on his bronze medal result from Beijing 2008 and pursue a potential calendar-year and career Golden Slam. He won his first four rounds in straight sets, against Hugo Dellien Struff, Davidovich Fokina and hometown player Kei Nishikori, to reach the semifinals, where he lost to Alexander Zverev in 3 sets despite being a set and a break up.[11] He then lost his bronze medal match to Pablo Carreño Busta in 3 tight sets. He also participated in the mixed doubles alongside Nina Stojanović, where the pair won their first two matches in straight sets but lost in the semifinals and withdrew from the bronze medal match. Djokovic thus left the Olympics without any medals.

Djokovic entered the tournament in contention for the Grand Slam, a feat in men's singles tennis achieved only by Don Budge in 1938 and Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969. Djokovic won in four sets against Holger Rune and against Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets. He then proceeded to lose the first set and win the subsequent three in each of his next three matches, against Nishikori, Jenson Brooksby, and Berrettini. He then defeated Zverev in five sets in the semifinals. Djokovic then lost in the final to Medvedev in straight sets, ending his Grand Slam bid.[12]

Djokovic played in men's doubles, partnering Krajinovic. They won in the first round, but lost the next round in straight sets. In singles, Djokovic defeated Márton Fucsovics in 3 sets, and advanced to the quarter-finals after a walkover by Gaël Monfils in the Round of 16. He won the semifinals against Hubert Hurkacz in three sets in the semifinals, securing the year-end No. 1 ranking for a record seventh time. In the final, he avenged his US Open final loss by beating Medvedev in three sets, winning a record-extending sixth Paris Masters title, and a record 37th Masters title overall.

Djokovic won all of his round-robin matches (against Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev, and Cameron Norrie) in straight sets to advance to the semifinals, but then lost a 3-setter to Alexander Zverev.

Novak Djokovic has a 55–7 (88.7%) ATP match win–loss record in the 2021 season. His record against players who were part of the ATP rankings Top Ten at the time of their meetings is 14–4 (77.8%). Bold indicates player was ranked top 10 at the time of at least one meeting. The following list is ordered by number of wins:

* Statistics correct as of 3 December 2021.

• Bold font denotes tournament win

Figures in United States dollars (USD) unless noted.

• source：2021 Singles Activity
• source：2021 Doubles Activity