Novak Djokovic

#1
kidbourbon

kidbourbon

Disgusting!
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Nov 12, 2005
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#1
Has clearly entered his prime and is living up to his potential.

At time equals present, he is the best tennis player in the world.*

*And I am huge Rafa fan, so it is an unbiased statement.
 
#2
#2
the question is how long can he hold it up? AFN had the match on today and he had just about everything working. But we've seen flashes of this multiple times. Is this Djoke here to stay? Can he stay mentally and physically strong throughout the season?
 
#3
#3
volfanbill said:
the question is how long can he hold it up? AFN had the match on today and he had just about everything working. But we've seen flashes of this multiple times. Is this Djoke here to stay? Can he stay mentally and physically strong throughout the season?
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We haven't seen a flash that lasted this long, though. He still hasn't lost a match this year. Believe me, I was skeptical that he would ever break through mentally, but now I finally think he has arrived.
 
#4
#4
kidbourbon said:
We haven't seen a flash that lasted this long, though. He still hasn't lost a match this year. Believe me, I was skeptical that he would ever break through mentally, but now I finally think he has arrived.
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He always played well in the Aussie (perhaps because it's the beginning of the year and his mind is refreshed). If he struggles and coughs up at Roland Garros, will he lose it mentally and falter early at Wimbledon and then be so out of it, the fans get in his head in Flushing Meadows? I'm not ready to believe.... yet.
 
#7
#7
Yankee_Vol said:
Ready to believe now?
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he's making his case... but to this point, it's been all hard court. The soft court season is upon us and I want to see what he's got there before I'm ready to claim him the best player in the world. I would have said he was at or near the top many times on hard courts alone the past 3-4 years.
 
#8
#8
He can beat Rafa on clay. I don't know that he will...but he can. He is really confident right now.
 
#9
#9
he's never made it to a final at Roland Garros or Wimbledon. His record on both clay and grass leaves much to be desired. Rafa still has a complete game. Federer is losing it, but his record speaks for itself. I still need to see something from Djoke on a soft court.
 
#10
#10
volfanbill said:
he's never made it to a final at Roland Garros or Wimbledon. His record on both clay and grass leaves much to be desired. Rafa still has a complete game. Federer is losing it, but his record speaks for itself. I still need to see something from Djoke on a soft court.
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If he can beat everybody on clay but Rafa (i.e., he gets to the finals at Roland Garros, but loses to Rafa), would he be showing you enough?

Because I think that is what will happen. Methinks Rafa is playing too well right now to lose on clay, but I do think Djoke will make him fight for it.
 
#11
#11
kidbourbon said:
If he can beat everybody on clay but Rafa (i.e., he gets to the finals at Roland Garros, but loses to Rafa), would he be showing you enough?

Because I think that is what will happen. Methinks Rafa is playing too well right now to lose on clay, but I do think Djoke will make him fight for it.
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Enough for what? That he's finally arrived? Yes. That he's the best in the game? No. Right now Rafa is beating everyone on the hard court but Djoke. At best, Djoke losing to Rafa at Roland Garros (and likely at Wimbeldon) would simply make them even. I'm not ready to take the #1 away from Rafa. Hammy injuries are major and it's only been a couple of months since and he's still playing remarkably. I think a fully healthy (by Rafa's standards) beats Djoke at Flushing Meadows. Djoke needs to prove me wrong.
 
#12
#12
volfanbill said:
Enough for what? That he's finally arrived? Yes. That he's the best in the game? No. Right now Rafa is beating everyone on the hard court but Djoke. At best, Djoke losing to Rafa at Roland Garros (and likely at Wimbeldon) would simply make them even. I'm not ready to take the #1 away from Rafa. Hammy injuries are major and it's only been a couple of months since and he's still playing remarkably. I think a fully healthy (by Rafa's standards) beats Djoke at Flushing Meadows. Djoke needs to prove me wrong.
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If Rafa is playing the way he did last year at Flushing Meadow, it would take a miracle to beat him. The guy was weakness-free. And I'm a big Rafa fan, so I hope he does get back to that form.

Anyway, I understand what you're saying about Djoke needing to show you a little more. But you gotta admit 25 straight matches is no fluke (especially when two of the matches were against Rafa and 3 were against Fed). It makes tennis that much more interesting with Djoke on the scene. Fed/Rafa will go down as one of the best ever tennis rivalries, but Roger is clearly slipping at this point, and so somebody needed to step it up. With Djoke coming into his own and Del Potro back on the scene, tennis still quite interesting.
 
#13
#13
Djoke is a beast now. I thought he played amazing at the Sony Ericsson. I still won't have a problem rooting against him in the future. Except having to get used to disappointment, maybe :) If he can break through at Roland Garros, watch out.
 
#14
#14
I probably should have named this thread "Tennis is Awesome Right Now". Because it is. The French Open is going to be great. Djoke is in great form. Delpo just won this past week. Rafa is in great form. And both Djoke and Delpo are legit clay contenders. Oh yeah, and Murray is playing just well enough to where I have to mention him.
 
#16
#16
I was going to post this, but work kept me busy all day yesterday. The French could be quite interesting. Djoke is playing very mistake free. His backhand is just sick.

BTW, not only did he beat Rafa on clay... he beat him on clay... In Spain.
 
#17
#17
what's crazy, and also sad, is that Brian Baker used to beat Novak on a consistent basis when they were Juniors...
 
#19
#19
Djoke/Nadal to meet in the Italian Open final today. I'm not sure what would set up a more interesting French, Nadal finally topping him, or Djoke continuing his win streak.

Nadal even admitted he'll probably play with less pressure because he knows he's not the favorite.
 
#20
#20
No matter what has happened up to this point in the season, Nadal is the favorite at the FO until someone takes him out. If he in fact said he will feel less pressure now because of these losses to Djoker, he is not being honest. His camp looked mortified in the second set today in Rome. They wore the look of "Uh oh, Rafa's career wasn't counting on this."

I'm not knocking Nadal at all. His greatness is beyond question. But his career plan is for everyone to lay down for him on clay and then to pick off the stray major on grass or hard court.

A Djoker with his head screwed on right will not give up too many losses to Nadal on hardcourt (and perhaps even on grass). But if Djoker can consistently beat Rafa on dirt, then we're going to have to hold off on proclaiming Rafa the greatest ever (after just doing the same for Roger Federer). Rafa has looked quite ordinary in his losses to Djoker this year.

A healthy Del Potro will make things a lot more interesting too. He is well-rounded on clay and hardcourts. Should be great on grass as well.

As a Federer fan, it is clear his time at the top is fading. I predict he will be in the hunt to win one or two more slams. But, even with RF retired in a few years, men's tennis will still be a great follow with Rafa v. Djoker v. Del Potro.

The history of tennis shows that each great player has his cryptonite. If Djoker can keep his head close to where it is now, Mr. Nadal, meet your cryptonite.
 
#21
#21
DyronNix said:
No matter what has happened up to this point in the season, Nadal is the favorite at the FO until someone takes him out. If he in fact said he will feel less pressure now because of these losses to Djoker, he is not being honest. His camp looked mortified in the second set today in Rome. They wore the look of "Uh oh, Rafa's career wasn't counting on this."

I'm not knocking Nadal at all. His greatness is beyond question. But his career plan is for everyone to lay down for him on clay and then to pick off the stray major on grass or hard court.

A Djoker with his head screwed on right will not give up too many losses to Nadal on hardcourt (and perhaps even on grass). But if Djoker can consistently beat Rafa on dirt, then we're going to have to hold off on proclaiming Rafa the greatest ever (after just doing the same for Roger Federer). Rafa has looked quite ordinary in his losses to Djoker this year.

A healthy Del Potro will make things a lot more interesting too. He is well-rounded on clay and hardcourts. Should be great on grass as well.

As a Federer fan, it is clear his time at the top is fading. I predict he will be in the hunt to win one or two more slams. But, even with RF retired in a few years, men's tennis will still be a great follow with Rafa v. Djoker v. Del Potro.

The history of tennis shows that each great player has his cryptonite. If Djoker can keep his head close to where it is now, Mr. Nadal, meet your cryptonite.
Click to expand...

After seeing Djoke play today, I'm wondering what his kryptonite is. The guy is playing at a level I"m not even sure that I've seen before.
 
#22
#22
The truest thing in tennis I've learned in the 25 years I've watched is that there is always a new kid in town waiting to take the top guy down.

Sampras sort of had a cakewalk career really because no one stood up to him and took him down a notch. Everyone else that I can think of (on the men's side) has had a nemesis to beat up on them and make them human.

I say Nadal wins the French over Djoker in a really good final. Then that's it for Nadal this year. Federer takes Wimbledon and Djoker finally takes the US Open (if he isn't worn out by that point).

The problem that someone like Djoker creates for Nadal is the same problem Nadal created for Federer. You can apply this to the top player in the game in any era once his nemesis is introduced.

The problem is, lesser players then start to see chinks in the armor and feel less intimidated to play you. Heck, they might even take a set from you. Then everyone sees it and starts to pile on. Eventually, the dominant guy succumbs to it, is no longer feared, and slowly takes his place in tennis history.

It happens to all of the best players eventually. It's just a matter of time.
 
#23
#23
DyronNix said:
The truest thing in tennis I've learned in the 25 years I've watched is that there is always a new kid in town waiting to take the top guy down.

Sampras sort of had a cakewalk career really because no one stood up to him and took him down a notch. Everyone else that I can think of (on the men's side) has had a nemesis to beat up on them and make them human.

I say Nadal wins the French over Djoker in a really good final. Then that's it for Nadal this year. Federer takes Wimbledon and Djoker finally takes the US Open (if he isn't worn out by that point).

The problem that someone like Djoker creates for Nadal is the same problem Nadal created for Federer. You can apply this to the top player in the game in any era once his nemesis is introduced.

The problem is, lesser players then start to see chinks in the armor and feel less intimidated to play you. Heck, they might even take a set from you. Then everyone sees it and starts to pile on. Eventually, the dominant guy succumbs to it, is no longer feared, and slowly takes his place in tennis history.

It happens to all of the best players eventually. It's just a matter of time.
Click to expand...

I agree with your entire post except the part about Fed winning wimbledon.
 
#24
#24
^^Ha ha. I don't even really agree with that prediction, but, hey, I gotta throw him a bone somewhere. His best shot is Wimbledon if he gets his serve together.

The reason I balked on Djoker in London is (a) he hasn't shown he is a serious contender there yet (but then again hasn't been playing out of his mind like he is now before either); (b) I think he will eventually hit a wall this season and am thinking the FO may take it out of him before he recovers to take the USO; and (c) it is just too weird to pick someone other than Sampras, Federer, and Nadal after all these years.

As always, Nadal is a threat anywhere.
 
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