Novak Djokovic Just 1 Win from Career Slam After Soaring Past Rest of Big 4

If this much wasn't obvious to you before this French Open, it should be crystal clear now: Novak Djokovic is currently the best tennis player in the world. He has firmly widened the gap between himself and the rest of the Big Four (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray). That's not an opinion—it's a fact.

Now, with his biggest rivals all sitting at home, Djokovic is a mere victory away from cementing his place in the history books and becoming just the fifth man in the Open Era to win all four of the Grand Slams. 

It seemed inevitable that Djokovic would be here until his semifinal match, which started on Friday and ended on Saturday, saw Murray manage to do something that nobody, not even Nadal, has done at this Roland Garros: make Djokovic sweat.

Despite Murray's out-of-body play in the third and fourth sets, Djokovic was still able to soar to victory, winning the fifth set 6-1. In doing so, he increased his record in 2015 to 41-2, including 8-1 over the rest of the Big Four. He also continued to stretch his lead atop the rankings.

His lead at No. 1 is already around 4,500 points above Roger Federer, according to the ATP website, and it will be more than 5,000 points if he wins the French Open. He has already clinched a spot at the year-end World Tour Finals despite the fact that the second Slam of the year isn't even over yet.

Michel Euler/Associated Press

Now, after already taking down two members of the Big Four this tournament—one who had won this tournament nine times in the past 10 years, and the other who was undefeated on clay this season—Djokovic will face 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final.

Wawrinka, with his powerful, one-handed backhand in tow, is playing some of the best tennis of his career, and is the man responsible for taking out the other member of the Big Four, world No. 2 Roger Federer, in the quarterfinals.

Chris Chase of For The Win sums up the question on everyone's minds heading into the Grand Slam final: Can the Serbian avoid a letdown? 

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Now Djokovic will have a 24-hour turnaround before facing Stan Wawrinka in Sunday’s final. After fighting through the French Open’s greatest champion and a rival who’s experienced recent dominance on clay, will all that work have been worth it?

Can Novak Djokovic win his second Slam of the year, become the first man since Jim Courier in 1992 to pull the Australian-French double and maintain his grip atop the tennis world? Or will it all be for nothing?

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It must be said that Wawrinka is far from a fluky opponent. The 30-year-old, late-blooming Swiss is a major champion and is at home on the clay courts in Paris. He also knows how to push Djokovic on the big stage—though the Serb leads the head-to-head 17-3, Wawrinka has pushed the No. 1 to five sets in their last four encounters at Slams.

Wawrinka beat Djokovic 9-7 in the fifth set in the quarterfinals of last year's Australian Open on the way to winning his maiden Slam.

However, if their match does go five sets on Sunday, it's safe to say that Djokovic has the edge. As he proved in his match against Murray, Djokovic has been his absolute best this year when the end of the match is within sight.

That's what's incredible about this version of Djokovic, the one who has transformed himself from a perennial third wheel to a potential GOAT candidate. He is only getting more comfortable as a front-runner, more complete as a player and more mentally resilient as time goes on.

It shows in just how dominating Djokovic has been this season. Perhaps his 2011 season, back when he went undefeated until the French Open semifinals and established himself as truly an elite player, has made us look at this season with a bit of a jaded narrative—after all, he has two losses, one to Ivo Karlovic in the first tournament of the year in Qatar, and the other against Federer in the finals in Dubai.

But back in 2011, Djokovic was riding high on a wave of confidence and merely establishing himself as being on par with the rest of the Big Four. Now, he has firmly separated himself from the rest on an annual basis. 

Just look at his record against the rest of the Big Four since the 2011 season began: He is 14-7 against both Federer and Nadal and 15-5 against Murray. That is downright incredible.

In that span, he has won seven Slams, been to 13 major finals (including this French Open), won 19 Masters 1000 events, three World Tour finals and finished the year ranked No. 1 three times.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

In the five major finals he's lost since 2011, two of the defeats have come to Murray and three to Nadal. He's already defeated both of them at Roland Garros this year, meaning the one trophy he hasn't been able to capture since his career renaissance began four years ago is firmly within his grasp.

Nobody is going hand the trophy to Djokovic the second he steps onto the court Sunday. He will have a day's less rest than Wawrinka and all of the pressure firmly on his shoulders. He will have to deal with an unpredictable French crowd that has been known to rattle him in the past and an opponent who has proved he knows how to seize the moment.

But really, all Djokovic has to do is continue on the path he's been on. He's established himself as the undisputed best player in tennis. He's proved he can recover quickly from trouble spots and survive any endurance test out there. He doesn't have as many Slams as Federer or Nadal, and it's certainly possible that he won't finish his career with as many either, but in this decade, he is the one reigning supreme.

Djokovic is one match away from hoisting the French Open trophy and winning his ninth Slam to surpass Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors on the list of most major titles. 

If you have any doubt that the Serb deserves that place in history, you simply haven't been paying attention in recent years.