Novak Djokovic has spent a lot of time thinking about his tombstone. He has even imagined people visiting his gravesite and reading the words. "Ninety-nine percent of the people on this planet, if you ask them what is the most important thing in your life, would say it's family, love, health, happiness," Djokovic said during a late-evening video call from Montenegro this month during his family's vacation. "So I would say those four things and I would add that I want to be the best father and husband that I could possibly be. "And I would also like to be remembered as a person that was a giver and the person that cared about others and left a mark on the world and that inspired others and that lived life to the fullest. That is, for me, the definition of how I would like to look back at my life on the last days of my life." So, he was asked, he would not want his epitaph to say, "Here lies the winner of the Grand Slam?" "No, no, no," he said quickly and emphatically. "Somebody coming to visit me there and looking at the tombstone, I wouldn't want it written like he has been the best, most successful tennis player in history. Of course, that is a very, very important part of my life and something that I'm devoted to. But if I have to put it on a scale and compare what is more important, it's a no-brainer for me." Heading into the United States Open, which begins on Monday, Djokovic is seven match wins away from achieving the most elusive and coveted goal in tennis: the Grand Slam, winning all four majors in the same calendar year. Already he has captured the singles titles at the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon. A victory at the U.S. Open would equal the feat of just five players — Don Budge in 1938, Maureen Connolly in 1953, Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969, Margaret Court in 1970, and Steffi Graf in 1988. Graf also won an Olympic gold medal that year, earning her a Golden Slam, something that eluded Djokovic when he lost in the semifinals in Tokyo last month. With his win at Wimbledon last month, Djokovic, 34, tied Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with 20 major championships. A win at the U.S. Open would break the tie. Djokovic leads both in head-to-head meetings. He is 27-23 against Federer and 30-28 against Nadal. Djokovic also has been the ATP's topranked player for a record 336 weeks, and he is on track to break Pete Sampras' record by ending the season ranked No. 1 seven times. He has won 36 ATP Masters 1000 titles and has captured the ATP Finals five times. With the 40-year-old Federer out of the U.S. Open after knee surgery, and with Nadal, 35, also pulling out with a foot ailment, Djokovic's chances for more records seem increasingly likely. Dominic Thiem, the defending Open champion, has also pulled out with a wrist injury. For all of the head-scratching moves Djokovic has made — such as holding a much-maligned exhibition tour in Belgrade in the middle of the pandemic, hitting a line judge in the throat with an anger-filled swipe during last year's U.S. Open, upsetting the tennis establishment by trying to start the breakaway Professional Tennis Players Association and even denying his countrywoman Nina Stojanovic a possible bronze medal when he pulled out of the mixed doubles playoff at the Olympics -- there is much to like about the guy. He is unfailingly polite, remembers people's names, says please and thank you a lot, and almost always compliments an opponent's play whether he wins or loses. Through his foundation, he and his wife, Jelena, have supported about 47,500 children in Serbia. This spring, he put up well over $1 million to host two ATP tournaments and one WTA tournament in Belgrade after other events in the world were canceled because of the pandemic and then ensured their success by being the headliner in both. Djokovic announced that he was playing in the Olympics in a video birthday message to a 6-year-old Japanese boy. He also noticed, during his Wimbledon final against Matteo Berrettini, a young girl sitting courtside and holding up a sign with encouraging words. After his victory, he trotted over and handed the girl his winning racket. In Tokyo, he stayed in the Olympic Village, something most other top players declined to do, and spent time giving fellow athletes tips for success. One of the people Djokovic has encouraged is the 20-year-old Serbian player Olga Danilovic. At the Australian Open in January, Danilovic made her way through qualifying and was locked in a first-round battle with Petra Martic. Suddenly she looked up and saw Djokovic watching her match. The support, she said, helped her upset Martic, the No. 16 seed. "People judge a book by its cover and in this case it's really wrong," said Danilovic, who cherishes a racket Djokovic gave her. "For me, he is one of the greatest persons in the world. He gives support when you need it and you can always see his fighting spirit." As a child, Djokovic shunned math and science in favor of more creative subjects like geography and linguistics. (He speaks six languages.) But throughout his career, he has sought a competitive advantage by dabbling in everything from sports psychology and mysticism to quantum physics and electricity. He has been known to travel with an R.V. that he parks outside tennis stadiums and uses to decompress. "Novak is an exceedingly bright man," said the performance psychologist Jim Loehr, who worked with Djokovic from 2012 to 2014. Djokovic has said his book "The Only Way to Win" is his favorite. "He loves abstract things and his brain likes to dig in for more detailed meanings. He has an inexhaustible curiosity about how the mind and body work together and never wants to leave a single stone unturned in his drive to succeed."