"I would consider that to be one of the very best years in tennis of all time." When you're getting those kinds of compliments from a six-time Grand Slam champion like Boris Becker, you know you've made your mark, and last week Becker saw fit to say exactly that about current world number one Novak Djokovic.

The bullocking Serb has certainly had a year to remember; he's won three of four Grand Slams, with only the clay court French Open continuing to allude him. In fact, Djokovic has dominated men's tennis this year in a way few have hitherto, amassing a win rate of 94 per cent. His record is even more astounding when you consider he's competing against greats like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Let's try and put this in context, though. Just how good has "the Joker's" year been? As spectacular as his 70-5 year has been, just a few years ago Federer was pumping similar, and even better figures. In 2006 for example, the Swiss master was able to play 97 matches and lose only five of them. He also racked up 12 ATP Tour titles, two more than Djokovic this year.

Over the years others have had similarly successful years too. In addition to Federer, Americans Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe both had better winning margins, and lost fewer, or the same number of games as Djokovic this year. All three have gone down as champions of the modern era, and along with Europeans Bjorn Borg and Ivan Lendl, dominate the record books of the past three decades. But that's not to take anything away from Djokovic. No one can deny that a year like his is memorable and, while not at the top of the record books, will be spoken about for years to come.

To be fair to Becker, he did add a caveat to his comments: "It may not be the best statistically, but he's beaten Federer, he's beaten Nadal, he's beaten everybody that came around to challenge him in the biggest tournaments in the world." On that basis, Becker judges him number one, and it's probably fair enough too. In 2011 Djokovic has defeated Nadal, the man he replaced at the top of the rankings, in six finals this year, including twice in this year's grand slams.

His two primary rivals in modern men's tennis are probably among the top five in the game's history, making his achievements even more remarkable. Measuring Djokovic against his two contemporaries, his year may rank well, but not yet his career. Indeed, Djokovic is only now catching up 2011 Federer and Nadal; he still has a ways to go until he can match the supremacy either achieved individually in the past half-decade.

Federer has beaten more records than any one thought possible, muscling his way to the top of the game, while Nadal, clay-court specialist cum multi-court conquerer, has won ten grand slam titles and left virtually all his opponents in his wake. It's quite a challenge, but as triumphant as his calendar year has been, he still has an up-hill battle to knock either of them permanently off their perch.

This week the ATP World Tour Finals are being played out at the O2 arena in London. So far Djokovic has defeated Czech Thomas Berdych in three sets and he lost overnight 6-3 6-0 to fifth-seed David Ferrer. Should he win the tournament, one of the jewels in the yearly tennis crown, he will remind the world of his place at the top of mountain in 2011. Whether or not the world looks back in a decade or two and sees his name etched in tennis history is yet to be seen; but one thing is for sure, that every male tennis player will be gunning for him in Melbourne in six weeks.