Doha: World number one Novak Djokovic insisted Thursday that it is possible to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single season after coming agonisingly close in 2015.
The 28-year-old won the Australian and US Opens as well as Wimbledon last season but missed out on becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to achieve the historic sweep when he lost the final of the French Open to Stan Wawrinka.
Asked if he could achieve the Grand Slam in 2016, Djokovic said: “I think anything is achievable. If you believe in it, if you, you know, dedicate yourself to it, why not?
“Why not visualise that and hope for that to happen? But one thing is actually to want that and the other is to accomplish.
“It’s still very early for me to talk about the Grand Slam in a year. You know, that would be something very extraordinary, but it is possible.
“I definitely have that kind of mindset,” he continued.
“I was one match away last year. 2011 I won three out of four Grand Slams, as well. I’m not the only one that has done that. Of course Roger (Federer) and Rafa (Nadal) were in similar situations. So let’s see.”
Djokovic was speaking after winning through to the semi-finals of the Qatar Open by beating Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer, 6-3, 7-5.
The Serb dominated men’s tennis in 2015, also making 15 consecutive tour finals and winning more than $21 million (Dh77 million) in prize money, as well as his success in the majors.
He begins the defence of his Australian Open title later this month.
A fist-pumping Nadal qualified for the last four of the Qatar Open by beating Andrey Kuznetsov over three sets in an enthralling battle.
Nadal won 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 but was made to work for his victory by the Russian.
The Spaniard, looking to recapture the form that has made him a 14-time Grand Slam winner, won the first set comfortably enough but from there the real drama started.
Despite initially being a break up, Nadal lost a see-saw second set as Kuznetsov’s powerful forehands brought him back into the match.
The Russian eventually took it 7-5, the first time the 24-year-old had ever taken a set from Nadal.
The final set was also unpredictable, with number two seed Nadal again squandering a break advantage before decisively taking the Russian’s serve in the ninth game.
The world number five then served out immediately afterwards to secure a place in the last four.
“Winning matches in three sets is very good news and very positive thing,” Nadal told reporters.
“That happens when you are fresh mentally, when you are able to analyse well what’s going on in the match.
“And last year I lost a lot of matches like today’s match. So for me it’s so important to win these kind of matches.”
Nadal added that he was happy with his game other than his serve, which was broken four times.
Qatar Open men’s singles quarterfinal results
Jan 7 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the Qatar Open Men’s Singles Quarterfinal matches on Thursday/s3-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Kyle Edmund (Britain) 6-3 6-2/s1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat 8-Leonardo Mayer (Argentina) 6-3 7-5/s2-Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat Andrey Kuznetsov (Russia) 6-3 5-7 6-4 Illya Marchenko (Ukraine) beat 7-Jeremy Chardy (France) 6-3 7-6(3)
Results Thursday from the Aircel Chennai Open at Sports Development Authority of Tamilnadu Stadium (seedings in parentheses):
Men’s SinglesSecond Round
Benoit Paire (3), France, def. Lukas Rosol, Czech Republic, 7-5, 7-5.
Thomas Fabbiano, Italy, def. Gilles Muller (6), Luxembourg, 6-4, 7-5.
Ramkumar Ramanathan, India, def. Alexander Kudryavtsev, Russia, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Aljaz Bedene, Britain, def. Luca Vanni, Italy, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
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