What next for Novak Djokovic? Before the French Open semi-finals the Serb was on the brink of overtaking Rafael Nadal as world No 2. Three weeks later he is reflecting on two successive defeats to his Spanish rival – in Paris and in the final at Queen's Club - and his earliest exit from a Grand Slam tournament for two and a half years.
Losing to Marat Safin in the second round at Wimbledon has no great significance in itself. The Russian bear is still capable of mauling anybody on his day and the early stages of a grass-court tournament are often the most perilous.
Djokovic has had limited experience on grass and his discomfort on the surface was all too evident in his straight-sets defeat to Safin. What could be more worrying is the fact that Djokovic admitted afterwards that he was mentally tired and already feeling the effects of a long season, even though it is barely at the halfway stage.
The world No 3 has struggled physically in the past. He has had surgery to correct breathing difficulties and often falls sick after long-haul flights. He also has some notable mid-match retirements against his name. He came in for some criticism for quitting on his stool against Roger Federer in Monte-Carlo two months ago, when he had tonsillitis. At Wimbledon last year, exhausted by a schedule made demanding by the rain, he retired in the third set of his semi-final against Nadal.
It should be remembered, however, that Djokovic turned 21 only last month (he is a week younger than Andy Murray) and, through his stunning successes over the last 18 months, has played a huge amount of tennis.
If he has occasionally wilted under the workload, he also looks to have the build to excel at this sport. At 6ft 2in tall and nearly 13 stone he has an ideal balance between power and mobility. He also has great flexibility: look at the way he bends his back when serving, slides into his shots on clay and chases down drop shots.
Djokovic will take a holiday before returning on the American hard court circuit. Playing outdoors on hard courts is where he is at his best and has been the environment in which he has made his biggest breakthroughs, including his first Masters Series title (in Miami last year), his first appearance in a Grand Slam final (at the 2007 US Open) and his first Grand Slam title (in Australian in January).
It will be a surprise if, come September, losing in the second round at Wimbledon has become simply a footnote to his season, relegated to the bottom of the page by the continuing success story of the most exciting player to emerge in men's tennis in the last two years.
(Photo: Getty Images)
Novak Djokovic “played a huge amount of tennis”? Puh-leeze! You ‘tennis journalists’ should do your job and remind him and us that Roger Federer -- in a season in which he suffered mononucleosis -- had played exactly the same number of matches as the fresh, 21-year old Djokovic. Now Federer’s win-loss record (39-8) is slightly better than Djokovic’s (38-9). And Nadal, just 11 months older with a far more physical style that stresses his body, has played more tennis than Djokovic (49-7, or nine more matches).
Goodness, can the fawning press stop making excuses for yet another humiliation of the whiny Djokovic and stop giving this big mouth the stage to diss a great champion like Federer with his PR campaign? Hopefully Djokovic's latest humiliation will shut his mouth and teach him to let his racquet do the talking.
The Serb’s loss to Safin is the third early exit he has made this year. Earlier in the season, in his first match at Miami, Djokovic was also humiliated by a No. 122 rookie player and qualifier. Even earlier than that, Djokovic lost to Gilles Simon in R2 of Marseille.
So Djokovic had tonsilities when he quit like a chicken while losing to Federer at Monte Carlo? Was the diagnosis from a Serbian doctor? Djokovic admitted at the post-match press conference that the official ATP doctor was unable to find anything wrong with him the day before the match. The press does not give Roger Federer enough credit for standing up like a man for three sets against Djokovic at the Australian Open, even though he was suffering from the peak of his glandular fever (mononucleosis) which is far, far worse than a dubious sore throat!
The majority of the tennis world outside the fawning press prefers to see Federer and Nadal succeed. Recent poll on the atptennis.com: “Who is most likely to finish No. 1 in the year-end ATP Rankings?”
- 56% voted Federer
- 34% Nadal
- only 10% Djerkovic.
The press is too mesmerized by and treats the Serb with kids gloves, while making mountains out of molehills when it comes to Federer, who has done nothing but great things for the game.
Posted by: Tony | 26 June 2008 at 11:15 PM
I think that Nadal's discovery from the French Open puts an unfair advantage on the field this year:
http://www.socoolaz.com/article.cfm?articleID=30221
Posted by: Grayheck | 29 June 2008 at 09:57 PM
the jerk on is you , tony !!
Posted by: acha | 19 July 2008 at 03:40 AM