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Nov/15

22

King Djokovic Subdues Fighting Federer

12274735_10206471104709659_623131059779813326_nAnother fascinating chapter to the greatest rivarly in sports today – Novak Djokovic was forced once again and responded with another tennis masterpiece to subdue yet another frenzied challenge by the remarkable Roger Federer at the ATP London World Tour Finals 63 64. Djokovic was again pushed to his limits but responded with another display of tennis genius – summoning his A PLUS level with full intensity (grunting with passion and fury in the third game today after a flat gruntless les than fully inspired effort during the round robin loss on Tuesday). Federer was great today but as we have seen so many times Djokovic can find another higher gear with his machine like efficiency precision intelligence and athleticism. Every single time that it looked like Federer was about to seize control of the duel Djokovic dug down deep and resisted – his serving on key points was especially clutch and effective today. Djokovic ends the surreal sensational season metaphorically with one of the greatest performances and years the sport has ever witnessed. The Fed Nole rivalry now stands at a ridiculously equal 22 wins apiece. Djokovic said after that he hopes to play many more great matches with Federer next year and with that punctuation mark the season closes with a thrilling climax but also a sense that there will be plenty more excitement and drama in 2016 perhaps even more than the awe-inspiring magical tennis we witnessed in this most unforgettable 2015.

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41 comments

  • Gaurang · November 22, 2015 at 5:08 pm

    This is by far the best season in tennis in the open era!!

    Djokovic completely dominated the entire year, crushing all opposition so convincingly that all players except Djokovic (and Federer) feel like amateurs.

    This is almost a season that only Djokovic fans could have dreamt up if they were given a choice.

    He has outdone his own 2011 season and Federer’s 2006 season. The only season left is 1969 four-slam season of Rod Laver. I think this season even beats the Rod Laver season though — in 1969 the open era was just in its 2nd year, so I am assuming the professional competitive landscape in tennis was just getting established, and Rod may not have as tough a competition as today’s tennis. Also, Laver’s record that year was 106-16 which in my opinion is much inferior to 82-6 (Would Novak have lost 10 matches to get 24 more wins!!!??/). If he lost 16 matches in a year, no way he was as dominant other than in the 4 slams.

    Novak’s complete 2015 seals the argument that he has taken tennis to another level now, and that Novak is in the running for the GOAT title (he would need to continue to play very well for 2-3 more years though, which he could if health does not come in the way).

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 22, 2015 at 6:00 pm

    Well said Gaurang-just a fantasy superhero superhuman year for Djokovic – Fed Rafa Stan and Andy all were ultra inspired to knock off “The Joker” this season but they all got sent back to the drawing board – scratching their heads in awe of what Djokovic can do on a tennis court – it was a thrill and privilege to watch Djokovic all year handle everything that was hurled his way – he even handled Stan’s miracle match at Roland Garros with unforgettable class and sportsmanship – Novak Djokovic is the greatest champion in sports today – in my opinion – he has taken tennis to a new level of excellence – and I believe he will continue to do so — awesome to see how he interacted with fans on the court after the match – Patrick mcenroe said he was out there with fans for over a half hour — wow – just WOW – What a champion —

  • Andrew Miller · November 22, 2015 at 10:31 pm

    Props to Boris Becker. I just read a NY Magazine article from Peter de Jonge on Becker – seriously, props to Becker. Right after Djokovic lost to Wawrinka he sets up practices against Wawrinka. At Wimbledon he had Djokovic play on courts with much worse bounces to prepare him for winning the title. Today Federer’s forehand just became unglued and I’d think that’s something Becker was aware of too, and asked Djokovic to go after it.

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 23, 2015 at 7:17 am

    There is no doubt Becker has taken Djokovic to another level – he has been a key component to the team – So to has Vajda – this is the greatest team in the history of tennis — it’s quite a large unit too – four key components – Becker Vajda the big tall bald guy Grilsch and the other stocky muscular guy who has been around since the early day – not sure of the latter twos role probably physios —

  • Rob · November 23, 2015 at 7:27 am

    Where is Facing Djokovic?

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 23, 2015 at 9:14 am

    Rob: Still finishing up Facing McEnroe – will start Facing Djokovic next year – in the meantime you can edify your tennis knowledge base with Facing Nadal – Facing Hewitt – and Facing Federer 🙂

  • Andrew Miller · November 23, 2015 at 10:36 am

    Agree on Becker-Djokovic. Becker seems to be the man on strategy. On technique it was Jelena Gencic until her death in 2013 (also coached Seles and Ivanisevic). I had no idea Gencic had such a thorough influence on the Djokovic game and even convinced Djokovic to use the two-handed backhand (he had a one-hander because he wanted to play like his idol Sampras).

    ““Pretty much what I know on court, I owe to her […] She’s the one who developed my game” – Novak Djokovic (NY Times article from Chris Clarey, June 2013)

  • Moskova Moskova · November 23, 2015 at 12:33 pm

    djoko would have been a bigger star if he had a 1-hander….I would’ve like him more and strangely, IMO, he would have had a bigger fan-base because of it for some reason but cant quiet put my finger on it..

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 23, 2015 at 12:54 pm

    Boris Becker on Roger before the WTF final yesterday: ‘I don’t know how he does it, he is 34 and is always difficult and tough to beat. He’s getting incredible results. Better ask him, he has a secret about it!’

  • Moskova Moskova · November 23, 2015 at 1:34 pm

    whoa BB accusing FED….FED’s on PEDs too !! lol

  • Andrew Miller · November 23, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    Saw a replay of 2010 us open with Djokovic down 15-40 on feds serve in the 3-5 game. Faced two match points and just teed off on that forehand. I’d seen him hit a similar shot in his Queens Club match versus Nadal in 2008, where despite being right there in the match Djokovic gave up and hit this wild yet controlled winner. He did the same against Federer, but this time it seemed that the frustration kept him glued to the match. That used to be the Djokovic playbook: Just play him tight and he will eventually give up. And Federer was serving safely in that game, either because he was nervous himself on the match points or because he maybe thought Djokovic was ready to quit.

    Wasn’t the case and the rest is history. Djokovic became a completely different kind of player, who if the chips were down didn’t matter, he’d probably win anyways. Been that way ever since.

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 23, 2015 at 2:16 pm

    Andrew – it’s a law of sports like boxing and tennis – the wounded animal is the most dangerous – the cornered animal is the most dangerous – bottom line is Fed underestimated Djokovic in that US Open final – Fed miscalculated what Djokovic was capable of – he paid the price – a very dear price — the great champions are uncanny and magical – Djokovic possesses these qualities in overabundance —

  • Andrew Miller · November 23, 2015 at 3:10 pm

    What surprised me is Djokovic has out-Nadaled Nadal.

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 23, 2015 at 3:16 pm

    Yes he has – better movement better backhand better serve better court sense and better return – and perhaps better fighting spirit???

  • Moskova Moskova · November 23, 2015 at 3:23 pm

    djoko’s gotta be the most boring and unpopular number one of all time….just doesn’t attract or sell like FED or rafa..

  • Dan Markowitz · November 23, 2015 at 5:03 pm

    You know why that is, Djok looks like a geek. I mean look at him get into his return of serve position, his mouth is agape, he’s got a beak of a nose (I should talk) and he’s all gangly and knobby with this pelt of sweaty black hair.

    Hey, Djoko’s an amazing player, but the guy looks like a geek. So does Fed to a large degree, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such girlish arms on a tennis pro, but it’s Fed, and he’s snarling and all bad-ass. I mean Jimmy Connors, Borg, Mac and Lendl looked like they’d all get their asses kicked in a school fight. Basically, the only physically-imposing tennis champions we’ve ever seen have been Vilas, Becker and Sampras. The rest were all built like wimps. Don’t get me started on Arthur Ashe and Ken Rosewall.

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 23, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    Djokovic is becoming beloved more and more – he is the greatest sports champion in the world today – his fanbase is growing by the month – he looks nothing like a nerd – he looks like the most amazing athlete on the planet – hawk like eyes – the perfect tennis physique – he could be great at any sport he tried including boxing baseball basketball hockey track & field NASCAR soccer football as a punter 🙂 golf you name it – it’s just a miracle that this guy from Serbia has conquered Rafa Fed and the entire sport of professional tennis — Djokovic is the great dictator of the most challenging and complicated sport on planet earth —

  • Andrew Miller · November 23, 2015 at 8:24 pm

    A player needs to have a sick consistency to be the top. That’s why there’s a huge question mark around players like Kyrgios, who might not have what it takes…to be boring. And why players like Robredo, seeing this tendency of players like Kyrgios, beat them. I think that was probably the most telling match of Kyrgios career thus far. Playing Robredo and wiping him out first set, then seeing Robredo match him shot for shot in the second set, and being matched shot for shot, giving up. It was as if to Kyrgios, if Robredo didn’t just give up out of being overwhelmed by the Kyrgios power, then it wasn’t worth it for Kyrgios to stick around. The u.s. Open match in 2014.

  • Dan Markowitz · November 24, 2015 at 6:14 am

    When I was into long distance running, when I worked at Runner’s World Magazine back in the 80’s, it was said, and it was true of guys like Frank Shorter and Bill Rogers and later Alberto Salazar–yes, my friends, there was a day when U.S. runners were the best marathoners in the world, impossible as that seems now–had to look emaciated to be great runners. If your cheekbones were prominent in your face, if you looked like you hadn’t eaten for a while, then you had a chance to run 26.2 in under 2:10.

    And that’s now almost how a guy like Djokovic looks, gaunt, hungry, ultra-slim. He looks like Lendl looked when he took over the tennis world and would do sick workouts like aerobics or biking in the Greenwich hills before going on the court for hours. I can’t imagine Djoko will be heavy and doughy-looking the way Lendl looks today when he’s 50-55, but it;s happened to Lendl. But look at Edberg and Wilander and Mac, they’re stilll very fit-looking. Maybe Lendl’s workout or probably his bad back led him to getting out of shape because he was once what Djoko looks like today.

    It’s almost impossible now to think that a big guy like Berdych or Tsonga or Raonic could be a world champion. They;re just too big. Even a guy like Izzie looks gaunt.

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 24, 2015 at 8:04 am

    Djokovic has the perfect diet – he does not eat anything bad – no dairy no sweets no junk – everything he ingests is premium fuel – I have a good friend like this who is bigger than me but he has a perfect diet for years – absolutely nothing enters his system that is detrimental – nothing – no fruit (too much sugar – except for watermelon and apples) no dairy no rice no pasta everything is perfect – even the chocolate he eats is like 99% cocoa so it doesn’t even taste like chocolate – and he used to weigh 190-180 now he’s down to 160 which is ten lbs lighter than me (check out his page on facebook to see how his body looks – he is michael the boxer in SF – Djokovic I’m sure has the same dedication to diet and nutrition as my friend if not more – and that’s why he looks like he does – he’s the perfect athletic fighting machine – and all these sacrifices were what was required to overcome two incredible INCREDIBLE champions like Rafa and Fed – credit to Djokovic for having the drive dedication and fortitude to pull off the what was previously deemed ‘impossible’ —

  • Moskova Moskova · November 24, 2015 at 1:13 pm

    @ scoop – where has djoko’s fan-base increased ?

  • Moskova Moskova · November 24, 2015 at 1:18 pm

    @ dan – IMO, if birdman, tsonga, izzie have the QF / SF / F of their lives; they might have a chance of hoisting a GS trophy as did wawa. however, right now, djoko’s on a roll and prlly will continue through 2016….would love to see FED win at wimby or rafa win at RG one last time each..

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 24, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    mm – the more Djokovic continues to beat Fed and Rafa the more fans will gradually hop off the Fed and Rafa bandwagons and inhabit the growing Djokovic Express – did you see how many fans stayed at the court after Sunday’s final to hang with Djokovic? A huge gathering it was – I’m sure some if not many of those fans were former Fed Express bandwagoneers – the balance of power is shifting —

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 24, 2015 at 1:25 pm

    Berd and Tsong = Todd martin and Philippousis – veryvery close but no cigars —

  • Andrew Miller · November 24, 2015 at 1:52 pm

    Raonic might crash the party in 2016.

  • Moskova Moskova · November 24, 2015 at 2:10 pm

    uggh – i hate raonic too and fat chance that he’ll be a real contender; late in a second week at a slam…

    @ andrew – has he had a win over a top 5 player ?

  • Moskova Moskova · November 24, 2015 at 2:13 pm

    + “recently”

    @ andrew – has he had a win over a top 5 player recently ?

  • Andrew Miller · November 24, 2015 at 3:29 pm

    Two top five wins in 2015.

  • Moskova Moskova · November 24, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    then i’ll put him in the same boat as birdman, tsonga…..gotta play a QF / SF / F of their lives to have a chance at a slam..

  • Moskova Moskova · November 24, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    just for shts and giggles…….four outlandish fantasies for the ATP in 2016 :

    1. kyrgios will win down-under
    2. thiem will win RG
    3. flopez will win wimby
    4. izzie will win the open

    haha 😉

  • Harold · November 24, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    ^^^^
    I’ll smoke what MM is smoking…ha ha

  • Dan Markowitz · November 24, 2015 at 7:23 pm

    And DY will win Newport.

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 25, 2015 at 7:17 am

    TC showed Hewitt vs Ferrero in Davis Cup final from about twelve year ago -on grass in Aus- what a five set war it was – Hewitt has to be the most antagonistic player in tennis history – he expressed all his emotions out there – fight – kill – boredom up 4-0 in the crucial four set tiebreak – the raised arm to go up 40-love for the break in fourth – fist pumps – trotting around the court after a winner – screaming after a winner – frustrations too – eye contact with opponent – he made it a fight – Ferrero played like a zombie except for ONE point when he showed a fiery reaction – but he was uncomfortable expressing his emotions – Hewitt was a fascinating player – his fire will always be missed – Djokovic has a similar fire but he gets heavily criticized when he expresses it and so he suppresses it for the most part – Hewitt too as he got older began to suppress his fire and ferocity – when he was young he didn’t care about the critics – what a beast he was out there – like Sanguinetti said in Facing Hewitt Hewitt was “a lion” –

  • Harold · November 25, 2015 at 7:48 am

    If your boy Rios, had half of the heart fire your other boy had, he moght have been numero uno for longer than an hour. Instead he was sullen, cursing and spitting on the court

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 25, 2015 at 8:57 am

    Hewitt spit on the court – before serving the first point in a game late in fourth set he looked at Ferrero and spit – did it sneaky though ) – Rios had a lot of fire and heart to get to where he was – people don’t appreciate Rios heart and fire because they didn’t understand it and he concealed it a lot under a casual don’t care facade – but he cared – he fought like a beast too – but the fire lost a lot of flame after he became number one – Canas told me a story about hitting with Rios in Stuttgart and Hewitt was next to them – Hewitt was very young and ranked about 40 in the world and Rios told Canas that Hewitt was going to be number one someday – Canas scoffed at that idea – Rios knew – greatness knows greatness – doesnt matter how long Rios was top dog – HE WAS TOP DOG –

  • Moskova Moskova · November 25, 2015 at 9:23 am

    @ harold – I got the good stuff from scoop lol 😉

    i was watching some of djoko’s pressers after he lost to FED in RR then later on in the tourna…surprisingly, he categorically denied that he said “handed the win to FED”…..he said also said at the later presser “let’s check the transcript”…LOL….of course he said it…..wat a piece of work. LOL

  • Moskova Moskova · November 25, 2015 at 11:32 am

    @ scoop – there was another all-out DC match between hewitt and coria on grass one year as well…..some classy behavior then too….not LOL 😉

    also, not sure if I agree with you on djoko’s fanbase increase…..even pmac and cahill were saying that the crowd is 95% for FED….and even at the local clubs and parks – you don’t see any people wearing uniqlo or using djoko’s head racquet….but you do see a whole lotta FED / rafa gear !!

  • Andrew Miller · November 25, 2015 at 1:43 pm

    Noah Rubin, now a full time pro, won direct entry into the Australian Open. The usta gave him the wildcard based on his getting the highest amount of challenger points in the past few months, beating out all other u.s. Challenger players.

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 25, 2015 at 2:02 pm

    Well a lot of the fans stayed after to hang with Djokovic – he’s gaining fans more and more – yes I saw one guy play in all Uni Qlo attire – the stuff looks great too – Head is a very popular racquet lots of players on local level use it –

  • Moskova Moskova · November 30, 2015 at 10:26 am

    haha one guy decked out in uniqlo !

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 30, 2015 at 3:22 pm

    Interviewed Lendl today at Eddie Herr about facing McEnroe – also did Biofile with Felix Auger AliassiMe who beat Patrick Kypson 64 60 – also did a Biofile with Bryan Shelton who is now coach of UFlorida – great stories froM Bryan Shelton —

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