'The greatest' - Djokovic takes aim at Federer's Slams, ranking record

vak Djokovic put Roger Federer on tice as he won his 17th Grand Slam title at Australian Open and warned he was going all-out for Swiss's record of 20 -- and his mark for weeks as world number one. Djokovic, who came through a mid-match slump to win his eighth title in Melbourne, is relentlessly totting up victories that could soon end debate over who's greatest in history.

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vak Djokovic scores eight out of eight

five-set victory over Dominic Thiem was his eighth in eight finals in Melbourne, putting him alongside Federer and Nal as only men to win same Slam eight times. It makes Djokovic, 32, first man in Open era, and only second in history, to win Grand Slam titles in three different deces -- and as a t-insignificant bonus, returns him to world number one.In an omius sign for his rivals, Serb has started year unbeaten with Wimbledon, French Open, Tokyo Olympics and US Open all lying in front of him as tantalizing opportunities.

He is clear-sighted about his goals: overtaking Nal's 19 Major titles and Federer's 20 to become all-time Grand Slam king, and outdoing Swiss master's record 310 weeks in top ranking. Djokovic has so far clocked up 276 weeks as number one and could pass second-placed Pete Sampras's 286 in April, and Federer's 310 on October 5. 

"Obviously at this st of my career, Grand Slams are ones I value most. y are ones I prioritize," said Djokovic, ding "re's a lot of history on line"."Grand Slams are one of main reasons why I am still competing and still playing full season, trying to obviously get historic number one (record). That's or big goal," he said.
 

'Huge win'  

With five major titles in just over two years, and unbeaten by Nal and Federer at Grand Slams since 2014, re's question who's w leing member of Big Three. latest rankings tell story at top of men's tennis: Djokovic is number one, Nal, one year older at 33, is second and 38-year-old Federer is a relatively distant third. Seven-time Major winner Mats Wilander said Djokovic's win in Melbourne sets a marker for a year in which he could sweep all before him."At end of year, we could have two players on 20 or two on 19 or even more because vak can win all four," he said.

"This is a huge win for him going forward. A loss here would have been very difficult to get confidence and come back."But door is open for him to start climbing through it and talk about being greatest ever." As he jets out of Melbourne, his name etched yet again on rman Brookes Challenge Cup, Djokovic warned that his confidence and expectations were soaring.

"I'm super happy with way I started season. It kind of sets tone for rest of year," he said."To start off season with a Grand Slam win significantly boosts your confidence and your expectations are quite high for rest of season."But whatever happens, this season is alrey successful."

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(Im Courtesy: AP)