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Not bad for a year's work

Arsenal won the Premier League without losing a match © Getty Images

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Not even in his wildest dreams could Novak Djokovic have imagined just how good 2011 would turn out to be.

Having achieved two lifelong ambitions in the space of a few days - winning Wimbledon and being crowned world No. 1 - Djokovic further underlined his status as the world's top player with victory at the US Open. With 64 wins from 66 matches this season, Djokovic has won more than $10.6 million in prize money this year, an ATP Tour record.

In honour of the Serb's groundbreaking year, we pick ten other memorable seasons.

Arsenal's invincibles
With 26 wins and 12 draws, Arsenal team romped to the 2003-2004 Premier League title without losing a single match. But it was a triumph of style as well as substance; Arsenal oozed class as well as demonstrating ruthless efficiency - the midfield dynamo of Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva providing the ideal platform to showcase the flair of Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg, with Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry providing the firepower up front. Henry bagged 30 goals for the season to secure the Golden Boot for a second time, while the Premier League commissioned a special gold trophy to mark the occasion.

Steffi Graf
Never before has a player, male or female, won a Golden Slam, and the chances are it will never happen again. But in 1988, Steffi Graf had no equal, winning all four grand slam titles and Olympic gold in Seoul. She dropped just 20 games en route to winning the French Open before dethroning six-time defending champion Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon. But even that does not do justice to Graf's dominance in 1988 - she won 11 singles titles, including eight titles in a row thanks to a 46-match unbeaten streak. Finishing the year with a 72-3 record, can Djokovic improve on her stunning stat?

Lawrence Dallaglio
As one third of England's highly successful back-row with Richard Hill and Neil Back, otherwise known as the Holy Trinity, Lawrence Dallaglio was the only player to play in every minute of England's successful 2003 World Cup campaign. Returning home to join his club, Dallaglio helped steer Wasps to an impressive double as Wasps won the Heineken Cup for the first time, beating Toulouse in a thrilling final at Twickenham, before beating Bath to defend their domestic title the following week. "I think if someone had said to me at the beginning of the year that I was going to be involved in two teams that would win the World Cup in Australia, the Heineken Cup as well as defending the Zurich Premiership title with Wasps, I think I would have been happy with that," Dallaglio said.

Tiger Woods completed the 'Tiger Slam' at the 2001 Masters © Getty Images

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Tiger Woods
No professional golfer has ever won all four majors in a calendar year, but Tiger Woods has had all four trophies in his possession. In 2000, he became the first man in half a century to win nine titles in a season - which included three consecutive majors. But it was the nature of his performances that stood out - he won the US Open at Pebble Beach by a record 15 strokes, and then he won by a clear eight strokes at The Open. At just 24 he was the youngest player to achiev a career Grand Slam, and he did it in emphatic style - his winning score of 19-under at St Andrew's was the lowest winning score in history. It was a bit tighter at the US PGA as he won a three-hole play-off against Bob May, but he finished the year with over $9 million prize money in his pocket. He then completed the set, winning The Masters the following year.

Roberto Carlos
A whole new breed of left-back, Robert Carlos was part of the Galacticos era at Real Madrid, winning the Champions League three times in five seasons. Considered by many to be the greatest left-back of all time, Carlos achieved the rare feat of winning two of the most prestigious trophies in the same season. In 2002, the Brazilian played in the Champions League final as Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in Glasgow, before playing a key role in Brazil's glorious World Cup campaign - in which Luiz Felipe Scolari's men won all seven matches in Japan, to claim a record fifth title. Interestingly enough, neither Madrid nor Brazil have won the respective trophies since.

Alastair Cook
As England flew to Australia attempting to becoming the first English side to retain Ashes in 24 years, the form of opener Alastair Cook was under question. Having struggled for runs, many felt the vice-captain had not earned his place in the team, but Cook went on to silence his critics, scoring 766 runs in the five-match series to become the second-highest English run scorer in Ashes history since 1929. England's dominance Down Under, where they were the first Test team to win three Tests by an innings in an away series, was largely thanks to Cook. After playing his part in a whitewash of India, England were named the world's No. 1 Test side, and Cook capped off an impressive 12 months by being named ICC Test Player of the Year.

Jenson Button was crowned Formula One world champion after a fairytale season © Sutton Images

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Jenson Button
Jenson Button's 2009 season was made all the more remarkable by the fact that he had been without a drive at the end of 2008 when his Honda team withdrew from Formula One. Racing for the newly-formed Brawn team, Button burst out of the blocks, winning six of the first seven races. Though he didn't win another race as Brawn faded in the latter part of the season, a brilliant drive up to fifth in Brazil was enough to clinch the title as he was crowned world champion after nine years in the sport. Brawn capped a fairytale season after winning the constructors' championship. Button was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours List and he had a street in his native Frome named after him.

Michael Jordan
In 1987-88, Michael Jordan averaged 35 points a game, but with impressive defensive stats became the first, and only player to win the scoring title and the defensive player award in the same season. It hardly came as a surprise that Jordan won the first of five Most Valuable Player trophies that season. The Chicago Bull further underlined his star status at the All Star weekend, winning the dunk contest and scoring 40 points in front of his home crowd.

Martina Navratilova
Not even Djokovic could hope to come close to Navratilova's astonishing unbeaten streak in 1984. In the process off winning 13 straight singles titles, Navratilova won 74 matches on the trot. That included three grand slam titles, beginning with the French Open (in those days the Australian Open was held at the end of the season). Victory at Wimbledon and the US Open handed Navratilova the chance to win a Grand Slam - but she fell to Helena Sukova in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, her first defeat since January. What's more, Navratilova and doubles partner Pam Shriver won 109 consecutive matches and all four grand slam titles that year.

Mo Farah
Such has been the form of Mo Farah this season, that a silver medal in the 10,000m at the World Athletics Championships can be seen as disappointment. Farah, who relocated to the USA earlier in the year, was unbeaten over all distances when he arrived in South Korea. Records had tumbled almost every time Farah stepped onto the track - the British and European 5000m indoor records went in Birmingham, the British and European outdoor 10,000m records fell at a Diamond League meeting in Oregon and he set a new British 5000m outdoor record in Monaco. Farah was the red-hot favourite going into his favoured event, the 10,000m, but he was pipped to gold by Ibrahim Jeilan. He upgraded his silver to gold in the 5000m to become the first British male to win a long distance world title.

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