Novak Djokovic

[Don Wassall]

Rafael Nadal ended Roger Federer's long era of domination, and right now Novak Djokovic owns Nadal and everyone else. He's 32-0 so far in 2011, the longest unbeaten streak to start a year since John McEnroe went 42-0 in 1984.
Djokovic beat Nadal today in the finals of the Madrid Masters -- which is played on clay, the surface that Nadal has been unbeatable on, so Novak really made a statement with this win.

Nadal is still ranked number one based on past performances, but Djokovic has clearlybeen the best player in the world over the past half year. We'll see if he can keep it going for an extended period of time the way Federer and Nadal did.

 

[Matra1]

I just came here to start a thread on Novak the Great. I just watched a replay of his straight set victory against Nadal in Madrid. It was one thing for him to beat Nadal at Indian Wells, California and Key Biscayne, Florida back to back but now he's beaten Nadal on red clay in Spain. He's also demolished Federer in Australia, Dubai, and Indian Wells. Has anyone ever beaten both Nadal and Federer three times in a row? I doubt it. He's my early pick for athlete of the year.

 

[Matra1]

Djokovic is playing in Rome this week. The red clay on the courts there are particularly slow so it will be very difficult for Novak to win this tournament. (He's 34-0 for the year). Nevertheless he just defeated Wawrinka in straight sets and will play Swede Robin Soderling in the QF. If he makes it to the final he will likely play Nadal again.

Federer was defeated by Richard Gasquet earlier today.

 

[Matra1]

I just watched Djokovic defeat #5 seed Robin Soderling. Another straight set win ending with a 6-0 2nd set. The guy is playing out of his skull. Next up Andy Murray on Saturday. I believe something called espn3.com and The Tennis Channel are covering it in the U.S

 

[foobar75]

Djokovic is on an unbelievable streak right now. If he manages to win Rome (and do so by defeating Nadal), then he should clearly be favored going into the French Open. I'm still interested in seeing how he does in some of the grass tournaments leading to Wimbledon, because that's all that is left at this point. He's dominating all the other surfaces.

On a different note, I must admit I'm surprised at the rate of decline in Roger Federer's game. After he won #16 at the Aussie Open last year, I thought for sure he could win 2-3 more. He looked solid to start the year in 2010, but he's not made it to another GS final since then. The way Novak and Nadal are playing, he may not get another chance.

But you never know. If he manages to catch-on fire during a two week run in an upcoming GS, he could still win 1 or 2 more. In that scenario, my money would be on Wimbledon. Clay was never his strongest surface, and I don't think he can keep up with some of the younger players on the hard courts anymore. Edited by: foobar75

 

[Matra1]

I must admit I'm surprised at the rate of decline in Roger Federer's game. After he won #16 at the Aussie Open last year, I thought for sure he could win 2-3 more. He looked solid to start the year in 2010, but he's not made it to another GS final since then.

It is surprising. Physically he still seems to be in great shape and he seems to be able to turn it on at certain times in each match. It's as if the hunger has gone. Either that or he just doesn't believe he can win anymore. It just seems mental, not physical, to me.

 

[Matra1]

This weekend he defeated a radically improved Andy Murray in the semi-final then dispatched Nadal in straight sets (again!) in the final. Counting the Davis Cup (which Serbia won last year) Novak has now won 39 matches in a row. Not since McEnroe went 42-0 in 1984 has there been a winning streak like this yet in the US sports media he is just a footnote.

 

[foobar75]

Did you notice the terse hand-shake at the end of the match? These two were very complimentary of each other a few weeks ago when Djokovic beat Nadal at Indian Wells, but now that he's also winning on clay, Rafa's specialty, maybe the rivalrly is reaching a new level?

In any event, what Novak is doing this year is unbelivable, and he's only 23! I don't think Federer's 16 GS win record is in any jeopardy, but if he can keep up this form, there's no reason he can't win 6-7 majors in the next 2-3 years, and establish himself as one of the all-time greats.

And to your other point Matra1 regarding the lack of US media coverage, I agree. If a black tennis player were doing this, one can only imagine the accompanying hype.

 

[darthvader]

Unless you're a serious tennis fan like I am as well as a few other other people on this board nobody realizes what djokovic is doing right now is pretty much amazing. In fact he may just go undefeated this year which would be unprecendented in the annals of sports. But I'll bet my house right now that 90 precent of this country don't know who novak djokovic is and probably 75-80 percent don't know rafael nadal or roger federer. But flip those percentages for the williams sisters then it's totally different. In fact Tiger woods fading and eroding the way he is gets more coverage than any tennis event. Even if djokovic does go undefeated espn will probably mention it for just 10 seconds.



edited: refer to the posting guidelines; racial slurs are not acceptable.Edited by: Don Wassall

 

[Deadlift]

Djokovic powered his way through both Monfils and Tsonga (retired in 2nd set).. simply magnificent! Great intensity, passion and style! He will be playing against Fish in the Final.

 

[Matra2]

Tsonga received quite a bit of criticism for his withdrawal during the semi-final against Djokovic. Many thought he just didn't think he could win so he decided to give in saying his arm was sore. He's playing again this week in Cincinnati.

Djokovic won the tournament in Canada and won his first match in Cincy against Ryan Harrison. He's now 54-1 for the year.

 

[Matra2]

Just a heads up to any casual tennis fans that tonight Novak Djokovic will play Rafael Nadal in the semi-final of the Canadian Masters tournament. This will be their first match of the year on hard court. Their two previous encounters were at the French Open semi-final (one of the best clay court matches ever played) and in the final at Monte Carlo. They've split the matches so far but Djokovic should have an ever so slight advantage on hard court. Just about all their encounters over the past two and a half years have been classics so the odds are good we'll get an exciting match.

It is supposed to start at 8pm (ET) on ESPN2 and CBC in Canada, and in the UK on Sky Sports at 1am British time.

 

[Quiet Speed]

Nadal prevailed in a third set tie-breaker. Although the match did not rise to the high quality as some of their other matches, and Djokovic in particular was not as sharp as his usual self, I enjoyed the battle between these two remarkable players. Nadal takes on Canadian Milos Raonic in the final.

 

[Matra2]

Djokovic in particular was not as sharp as his usual self

He looked very rusty, especially in the first set. He won't win the US Open if he plays like that.

 

[Quiet Speed]

World’s number two ranked Novak Djokovic captured the prestigious ATP World Tour Finals today. He served notice at the season ending championships that he is looking to regain the number one position in 2014. He beat current number one Nadal, who had a tremendous year, in straight sets. The year ending event features the top eight players in a round robin event. Both men made it to the finals undefeated. The winner captured a measly $1,923,000. The Australian Open at the beginning of the year is already looking good.

 

[Matra2]

Djokovic hasn't lost since the US Open final. Since then he's won two Davis Cup matches against Canada, the Beijing 500 tournament - beating Nadal in the final - the Shanghai Masters 1000, the Paris Masters, and now the World Tour Final. That's a 22 match winning streak with two more Davis Cup matches to go on the weekend against the Czechs (probably Berdych and Stepanek). Given that Australia is his best major he could be on his way to another streak like in 2011. (Of course, he's been helped by the absence of Andy Murray and the decline of Federer).

 

[Quiet Speed]

Novak Djokovic was in zen mode yesterday. He took the Sony Open in Miami yesterday, beating Nadal 6-3, 6-3. He has had a very, very good month. He won the BNP Paribas Open against Federer the week before last.

 

[Matra2]

Djokovic beat Nadal on the red clay of Rome. This sets things up nicely for the French Open. The Serb might even be favourite now.

 

[Matra2]

The last post on this thread was by me exactly one year ago today.:dodgy:

Djokovic won Rome yesterday making him 35-2 for 2015. He's won every Masters (minus Madrid which he didn't enter) and the only major of the year. It's like 2011 all over. If he wins the French Open expect the calendar year grand slam question to be the main focus of men's tennis from then onwards.

 

[Quiet Speed]

The last post on this thread was by me exactly one year ago today.:dodgy:

Djokovic won Rome yesterday making him 35-2 for 2015. He's won every Masters (minus Madrid which he didn't enter) and the only major of the year. It's like 2011 all over. If he wins the French Open expect the calendar year grand slam question to be the main focus of men's tennis from then onwards.

And you just jinxed him at Paris, just like you did last year! :grin:

 

[Matra2]

And you just jinxed him at Paris, just like you did last year! :grin:

:icon_cry:

He almost put himself out of Roland Garros opening a champagne bottle. Could've been an eye injury!

[video=youtube;j6DWNCBev9M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6DWNCBev9M[/video]

 

[Don Wassall]

Djokovic won the BNP Paribas Open for a record fifth time yesterday. He's now 22-1 for 2016 with four wins, including the Australian Open. This looks to be his best chance to win all four Grand Slam events in the same year as he is at his absolute peak and Nadal is oft-injured and declining and Federer is still great but is fighting a losing battle with Father Time. As always, winning the French Open will be the chief obstacle in Novak's path.

Victoria Azarenka defeated Brutus Williams in straight sets to win the women's title. Maybe this is the year The Linebacker in a Skirt's long anticipated decline begins.

 

[BeyondFedUp]

Thanks for the latest Don. And I looked at Williams' scores of matches leading to her loss in the Final, and some of those matches look like she was really pushed. She's not dominating start to finish now...

 

[frederic38]

the media being really negative about djokovic's domination, saying that tennis has become boring etc:

http://www.lemonde.fr/tennis/articl...ovic-avait-tue-le-tennis_4958611_1616659.html

when a white man reigns in a sport the media says the sport is dying, that it's getting boring lol
we saw the same pattern with boxing

 

[Quiet Speed]

the media being really negative about djokovic's domination, saying that tennis has become boring etc:

http://www.lemonde.fr/tennis/articl...ovic-avait-tue-le-tennis_4958611_1616659.html

when a white man reigns in a sport the media says the sport is dying, that it's getting boring lol
we saw the same pattern with boxing

Yes, Yahoo was echoing the same thought. Serena Williams quest for history is exciting while Djokovic's is uninteresting according to these fools.