Hey,
Today, I want to talk about the current situation in the tennis world. The obvious topic of discussion would be Novak Djokovic's 37-0 (and counting) start to the season. Something like 6 or 7 tournament victories (including a couple of Master's 1000 titles) and a healthy improvement on his head-to-head record against the world's best. It's obviously too early to start calling him the next world number one and all time great, blah blah blah. The young Serb is without a doubt playing his best tennis which has been unearthed by the newfound superstar level he has in his country after helping them win the Davis Cup last year, followed by his second Australian Open title. Is it a case of Novak simply fully utilizing this momentum and capitalizing on win after win? Yes. For several years prior to 2010/2011, Novak has always been "Number 3", the 3rd best, semi finals were his targets with the odd trophy here and there. He had too much respect for Roger Federer and he was too weak for Rafael Nadal. But then, winning the Davis Cup, seems to have woken up some beast within Novak. The dismantling of Federer in the Aussie Open semi final (right after Federer had easily won the end of season World Tour Finals in London against Nadal) followed by a solid performance against Murray in the final (although I believe Murray gave that final to Novak rather than Novak winning it himself), told Novak that he can win majors, he can stand and exchange with the best and make THEM look like "Number 3". That's exactly what he did to the once great Federer. Passing him in the rankings meant little to Novak as he had done it once before but KEEPING and DEFENDING the number 2 rank just added to his growing belief. Djokovic carefully picked what tournaments he would play in (keeping in mind his knee injury which forced him out of the Monte Carlo Masters). Then came the 4 successive wins over the world number one, Rafael Nadal. Impressive? Even more when you realise the last two wins were in finals on CLAY, Nadal's best surfaces.
Many fans, critics and pundits would have had Nadal as favourite for the upcoming French Open, some probably still do, but Nadal will be very worried about Djokovic's form. 37 wins this year, 39 in a row overall and for Nadal and Djokovic to meet in the final once again, Djokovic must win 6 more matches, giving him a total of 43 wins in a row (45 overall - one behind Vilas' record of 46). An EPIC final that would be.
So it can't all be motivation, can it? Ofcourse not. To me, Djokovic is dictating points more than before and he looks so much stronger (not saying he's a shredded beast). Add in his desire to win EVERY point and one can struggle to find a way to ever beat him! But I noticed one little weakness in the semi final of the Rome Masters just gone. Andy Murray started of poorly against Novak losing the first set 6-1 but then started coming into the net more (something that probably sounds obvious when Novak hits every ball back onto the baseline and into your face!) and so Murray took the second set 6-3. Then Novak looked visibly tired. He looked like he was laboring more in his shot chasing and making. Murray took advantage with 2 breaks in the final set but his mental game allowed Novak back into the match and eventually winning the third set on a tiebreak. Murray's poor run of form leading into the Rome Masters was definitely over with that performance but just think what it would have done for his motivation and season if he was the one that ended Novak's superb run.
So with many believing Novak and Nadal will sweep the remaining Grand Slams of the year, where does that put Federer, Murray and the other top 10 guys? Nowhere. The top 2 are just too good. Simple. Much like Sampras and Agassi in the 90s and Nadal and Federer from 2005-2009/10. Federer, in my opinion, is stuck in "limbo". He is much better then Murray and the rest of the planet but he is nowhere near Nadal and Djokovic. Maybe its a mental hurdle for Roger or it might be that his "soft" and "smooth" aspect of the game is too weak against the brute force of the top 2. I'm not suggesting that Federer is done and that he will struggle to win anything ever again because that would be foolish. Murray, on the other hand, needs to be more consistent in the lesser tournaments and really needs a great run at Wimbledon or the US Open. He seems to crack under the pressure of playing the top 3 in big finals. With the 2012 Olympics being held at Wimbledon, a Murray GB gold medal could be the answer to his worries (even if it is more than a year away).
Soderling, Ferrer and Berdych have formed their own mini-league as they occupy 5th-7th. They way seedings for tournaments go, these players can only aim for quarter-finals and, if they can upset the top 4, a semi-final or final every so often. thats left them in the "2nd division" of the top ten which doesn't bode well for their futures. The French Open could possibly be a great platform for them to show that they aren't just there to make up numbers. Soderling reached the last two French Open finals and Berdych got to last year's semi-final so one could argue, it's make or break for the two.
All in all, one player who won't be bothered with anything right now is Djokovic. His focus will be on the French Open, winning game after game, set after set, match after match. If it's meant to be, we will see an epic Nadal-Djokovic final that could mean the beginning of, dare I say it, the Djokovic Era?
No comments:
Post a Comment