How Shohei Ohtani Stacks Up to Tennis Greats Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic

The Dodgers star put on a masterclass in Game 4 of the NLCS, but how does his exceptional outing compare to the career highlights of tennis’s biggest names?

Novak Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. / Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

This post is part of a larger list looking at some of the top individual performances in all of sports history. Check out the full list here. 

When two-way great Shohei Ohtani turned his slugging slump into the greatest game in baseball history in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, it started a discussion in the Sports Illustrated newsroom: What are some of the other top individual performances in sports? And how do they compare to Ohtani’s 10 strikeouts and three home runs? 

In tennis, there is no better barometer to measure excellence than Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic, the undisputed GOATs of the game. So, how does Ohtani’s lights-out performance stack up to the biggest moments of Djokovic and Williams’s careers? 

Novak Djokovic adds a gold medal to his trophy case

Two months earlier, Novak Djokovic had wrenched his knee, requiring surgery. One month earlier, Djokovic—miraculously back in action—lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. But there Djokovic was on an August afternoon on the clay of Roland Garros. At 37 years old, and in need of rest, he had little business being there. And he had no business reaching the decisive gold medal match. But before the 2024 season, he had called his shot, Babe Ruth style, announcing to the world his ambition to win Olympic gold for Serbia, the lone missing entry on his unrivaled tennis résumé. Never mind that Djokovic was facing Alcaraz again, who—apart from winning the French Open title on the same court earlier that summer—was a full 16 years his junior. Djokovic had not entertained the possibility of losing that afternoon. So it was that in the biggest match of his life, he played near-flawless tennis. His shots licked the lines; he won 20 of 27 ventures to the net; he outserved his younger opponent; above all, he won the points freighted with the most pressure. Djokovic prevailed 7–6, 7–6. And had, thereby, found a way to win a title that, in his mind, was bigger than any of the 24 majors that he had come prior. Game, set, GOAT.

Greater than Ohtani? Slightly, given the context and historical freight. 

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Serena Williams exploded onto the scene, winning her first major singles title at the 1999 U.S. Open as a teenager. / Manny Millan /Sports Illustrated

Serena’s first U.S. Open win

Serena Williams’s first major title was the ultimate act of foreshadowing. At 17 years, and regarded as not even the best player in her own family, she went from respected to feared in a matter of days, beating (future Hall of Famers, all) Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martínez, Monica Seles and the defending champion, Lindsay Davenport, to reach the 1999 U.S. Open final. There, Williams faced Martina Hingis, the top seed and the world’s No. 1 player. And it’s not just that—in the biggest match of her life—Serena failed to blink. It’s that she relished the occasion. Mixing power, accuracy, speed and courtcraft, Williams announced herself. After winning a virtually perfect match and taking the title, she remarked, “I wouldn’t give in to anything.” This would be a central theme and central seam in a tapestry that would spread out over the next two decades. But that afternoon in Queens, N.Y., the GOAT may have come closest to perfection.

Greater than Ohtani? Close but not quite.

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