Novak Djokovic has accomplished so much in his career-and, indeed, already this year.
He owns 12 Grand Slam singles titles, a total eclipsed by only three men in the long history of tennis. He has won four consecutive major tournaments, something only two other men ever did. He leads the tour in wins (44-3 record) and titles (six) in 2016.
Now, with Wimbledon starting Monday, there is something more for Djokovic to pursue, something never achieved by a man and only once by a woman: a Golden Slam, consisting of winning all four major singles titles, plus an Olympic singles gold medal, in one season. As it is, Djokovic is halfway to a true Grand Slam, collecting championships on the hard courts of the Australian Open in January, then the red clay of the French Open earlier this month.
Among men, only Don Budge in 1938, and Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969, managed to win all four Grand Slam tournaments within a calendar year (none of those were Summer Games years and, anyway, tennis was not part of the Olympics in those days).
"There's going to be a lot of pressure on him," Laver said about Djokovic, adding: "For me, I think it's very possible he can pull it off."
When he won his first French Open title this month to become the first man since Jim Courier in 1992 to even get halfway to a calendar-year Grand Slam, Djokovic certainly did not try to play down the possibility of equaling Laver's achievement.
At 29, he is probably at his peak, as close to unbeatable as there is these days, possessing the best return of serve in the game, an unparalleled ability to contort his body and track down opponents' apparent winners while going from defense to offense in a blink, and an improving serve.
And from match to match, surface to surface, Djokovic rarely wavers.
"People are starting to respect him more and more," said seven-time major champion John McEnroe, part of ESPN's broadcast team at the All England Club, "(and) to see the astronomical level of consistency he's had, incredible success week in and week out."
Djokovic has participated in the past six Grand Slam finals, a run surpassed only by Roger Federer in the Open era.
Djokovic also is gaining on another, more revered, mark: Federer's 17 Grand Slam titles. Next on the all-time list are Rafael Nadal and Pete Sampras, with 14 apiece.
At Wimbledon, Djokovic won't see Nadal, out with an injured left wrist. Federer is finally, at 34, showing signs of age, including missing the French Open to end a record streak of 65 consecutive majors. This is also the first time since 2000 that Federer heads to the All England Club without having won any ATP title all season.
At this point, the top-ranked Djokovic's most serious challenger has to be No. 2 Andy Murray, the man he beat in the finals at both the Australian Open and French Open this year. Murray has reached 10 Grand Slam finals, winning only two, but both victories did come against Djokovic.
Murray also has reunited with Ivan Lendl, his coach when he won an Olympic gold medal (at the All England Club) and the U.S. Open in 2012, and Wimbledon a year later.
Still, Djokovic has the momentum and ability to take aim at a truly historic season, including the chance to win his first Olympic gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games in August.
Top men to watch at the Wimbledon:
Novak Djokovic
Ranked: 1
Age: 29
Country: Serbia
2016 Match Record: 44-3
2016 Singles Titles: 6
Career Singles Titles: 65
Major Titles: 12-Wimbledon ('11, '14, '15), U.S. Open ('11, '15), Australian Open ('08, '11, '12, '13, '15, '16), French Open ('15)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '15-Won Championship, '14-W, 13-Lost in Final, '12-SF, '11-W
Topspin: Has 28-match Grand Slam winning streak, covering four consecutive major championships. Now tries to complete first true Grand Slam by a man since Rod Laver in 1969. ... Has reached at least the semifinals at Wimbledon each of the past six years, including titles in 2011, 2014 and 2015. ... Leads ATP in match wins, titles this season. ... Fifth consecutive year he is seeded No. 1 at All England Club.
Andy Murray
Ranked: 2
Age: 29
Country: Britain
2016 Match Record: 33-6
2016 Singles Titles: 2
Career Singles Titles: 37
Major Titles: 2-Wimbledon ('13), U.S. Open ('12)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '15-SF, '14-QF, '13-W, '12-F, '11-SF
Topspin: Recently reunited with coach Ivan Lendl; their partnership resulted in Murray's two Grand Slam titles. ... Will always be remembered as the first British man in 77 years to win Wimbledon, beating Novak Djokovic in the 2013 final. ... Has lost eight major finals, including to Djokovic at the Australian Open in January and at the French Open this month. ... Prepared for Wimbledon by winning record fifth title on grass courts at Queen's Club.
Roger Federer
Ranked: 3
Age: 34
Country: Switzerland
2016 Match Record: 16-6
2016 Singles Titles: 0
Career Singles Titles: 88
Major Titles: 17-Wimbledon ('03, '04, '05, '06, '07, '09, '12), U.S. Open ('04, '05, '06, '07, '08), Australian Open ('04, '06, '07, '10), French Open ('09)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '15-F, '14-F, '13-2nd, '12-W, '11-QF
Topspin: Starts a new streak of Grand Slam appearances after his record 65-major run ended when he pulled out of the French Open because of a bad back. ... Enters Wimbledon without a title, his longest drought to start a season since 2000. ... Last Grand Slam title came at Wimbledon in 2012, equaling Pete Sampras and Willie Renshaw with seven championships at the grass-court major. ... Lost to Novak Djokovic in the past two Wimbledon finals. Could face him again in this year's semifinals.
Stan Wawrinka
Ranked: 5
Age: 31
Country: Switzerland
2016 Match Record: 27-9
2016 Singles Titles: 3
Career Singles Titles: 14
Major Titles: 2-French Open ('15), Australian Open ('14)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '15-QF, '14-QF, '13-1st, '12-1st, '11-2nd
Topspin: Working with 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek to get help with playing on grass. ... Has won major titles on hard courts and red clay, but least amount of Grand Slam success has come at Wimbledon, where he has yet to make it past the quarterfinals and has three first-round exits in the past six years. ... If his big forehand and beautiful-as-can-be one-handed backhand are on target, can present problems for any opponent.
Top women to watch at the Wimbledon:
Serena Williams
Ranked: 1
Age: 34
Country: United States
2016 Match Record: 24-4
2016 Singles Titles: 1
Career Singles Titles: 70
Major Titles: 21-Wimbledon ('02, '03, '09, '10, '12, '15), U.S. Open ('99, '02, '08, '12, '13, '14), Australian Open ('03, '05, '07, '09, '10, '15), French Open ('02, '13, '15)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '15-Won Championship, '14-Lost in 3rd Round, '13-4th, '12-W, '11-4th
Topspin: Since winning Wimbledon a year ago for her fourth consecutive major title and self-styled Serena Slam, moving within one of Steffi Graf's Open-era record of 22, has not added to the total, losing in the semifinals at the U.S. Open, the final at the Australian Open, and the final at the French Open. ... As usual, did not enter any grass-court tuneup tournaments after playing on the red clay of the French Open before heading to the All England Club.
Garbine Muguruza
Ranked: 2
Age: 22
Country: Spain
2016 Match Record: 22-10
2016 Singles Titles: 1
Career Singles Titles: 3
Major Titles: 1-French Open ('16)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '15-F, '14-1st, '13-2nd, '12-Did Not Play, '11-DNP
Topspin: Showed she could be tennis' "Next Big Thing" by reaching Wimbledon final a year ago before losing to Serena Williams, then broke through for her first Grand Slam title by beating Williams this month in the final at Roland Garros. ... Plays a fearless, big-stroke game, full of flat groundstrokes. ... Not shy about saying she plans to add more major trophies to her collection.
Agnieszka Radwanska
Ranked: 3
Age: 27
Country: Poland
2016 Match Record: 26-9
2016 Singles Titles: 1
Career Singles Titles: 18
Major Titles: 0-Best: F, at Wimbledon ('12)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '15-SF, '14-4th, '13-SF, '12-F, '11-2nd
Topspin: Her varied game, filled with all sorts of slices and spins and speeds, can fluster opponents on grass courts. ... Since 2008, has been the runner-up at Wimbledon, reached the semifinals two other times, and the quarterfinals another two years. ... With a semifinal appearance at the Australian Open in January, has made it that far at a major tournament at least once each season for the past five years.
Venus Williams
Ranked: 9
Age: 36
Country: United States
2016 Match Record: 12-7
2016 Singles Titles: 1
Career Singles Titles: 49
Major Titles: 7-Wimbledon ('00, '01, '05, '07, '08), U.S. Open ('00, '01)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '15-4th, '14-3rd, '13-DNP, '12-1st, '11-4th
Topspin: After reaching the final at the All England Club eight times in a 10-year span, including earning five championships, has made only one quarterfinal appearance in the past half-dozen years. ... Used to be owner of one of the top serves on tour, but so far this season she has 35 percent more double-faults (74) than aces (55). ... Because of No. 6 Victoria Azarenka's withdrawal, Williams moved up one spot to No. 8 in the seedings, making her the oldest top-eight seed at a major since Martina Navratilova, 37, at Wimbledon in 1994.
Wimbledon glance
A look at Wimbledon, the year's third Grand Slam tennis tournament, which begins Monday:
Surface: Grass courts.
Site: The All England Lawn Tennis Club.
Schedule: Play begins Monday. The women's singles final is July 9; the men's singles final is July 10. There are no matches scheduled for the two-week tournament's middle Sunday, July 3.
2015 Men's Singles Champion: Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
2015 Women's Singles Champion: Serena Williams of the United States.
Last Year: Djokovic earned his third Wimbledon title by beating seven-time champion Roger Federer 7-6 (1), 6-7 (10), 6-4, 6-3, starting a run of four consecutive Grand Slam titles for the Serb. It was the second year in a row that Djokovic defeated Federer in the final at the All England Club. Williams collected her sixth Wimbledon trophy with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Garbine Muguruza. That was Williams' fourth straight major title and 21st overall; she has not added another since then.
Key Statistic I: 28-Consecutive Grand Slam matches won by Djokovic, who is halfway to a true Grand Slam.
Key Statistic II: 13-Consecutive Wimbledon titles won by the "Big 4" of men's tennis: Federer, Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal; Lleyton Hewitt, who has retired from singles but got a doubles wild-card entry for Wimbledon, was the last man outside of that quartet to win the championship, back in 2002.
Key Statistic III: 22-Grand Slam singles titles won by Steffi Graf, the record for the Open era and one more than Williams has.
Not Here: Nadal, who won two of his 14 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon, pulled out because of the left wrist injury that forced him to withdraw from the French Open. Maria Sharapova, whose first of five major trophies came at Wimbledon in 2004, is serving a suspension for failing a drug test. Another former No. 1 and a two-time Australian Open champion, Victoria Azarenka, is sidelined by an injured right knee.
Prize Money: Total is 28.1 million pounds (about $41 million before the British pound plummeted after the country voted to leave the European Union, making the total worth about $38 million), with 2 million pounds (nearly $3 million before the vote, about $2.7 million after) each to the men's and women's singles champions.