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Djokovic is BACK and will win the U.S. Open
25 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Novak Djokovic appears to have regained his top form again as he dominated the Toronto Masters Series including a virtuoso performance in the final vs. Richard Gasquet.
The tournament was important for Djokovic to regain his footing and confidence, with Murray, Federer and Nadal all opting to skip. Djokovic has regained his winning touch and looked like his old dominant self, after a disappointing summer where he came up short in Paris and London twice.
Djokovic is not far off his spectacular 2011 form, it’s just a matter of regaining his confidence to win big events. I think winning Toronto is the perfect remedy for his mind and his game and he will capitalize on this title – his 12th Master Series shield – and will make good in New York next month.
The old dominant Djokovic is back, you heard it here first!
(Djokovic art by Andres Bella www.andresbellaart.com)
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Scoop Malinowski · August 13, 2012 at 2:10 am
Okay Steve and Mitch adb and Loreley, you can all begin firing away : )
Mitch · August 13, 2012 at 2:37 am
I don’t think the Toronto title means much, but I also pick Djokovic to win the US Open. He’s still the best hard court player in the world. I even think Murray and Del Potro have better odds of beating him than Fed or Nadal.
Scoop Malinowski · August 13, 2012 at 2:43 am
Agree Mitch, watch out for Murray and Del Potro. Never count out Fed or Nadal either. But I like Djokovic. He needed a win and he just got it, coming off the long summer and falling short of medaling at the Olympics in singles and doubles, this win is huge for him. He is back on track.
adb · August 13, 2012 at 7:03 am
Virtuoso? Uh-uh. Played a seriously outmatched opponent. Virtuoso would have been 6/2, 6/1. Still waiting to see how Fed plays in Cincy before I pick a US Open winner. But he did play well, I’ll give you that.
Scoop Malinowski · August 13, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Fed is sure for at least the SF in Cincy, he is always in the mix when he wants to be. Cincy is always curious because it seems the top guns don’t want to go all out in Cincy when the US Open is right around the corner. Not sure if Cincy will tell us anything about the US Open result, we pretty much know who the final four will be in the mens )
Dan Markowitz · August 13, 2012 at 1:11 pm
Toronto and Cincy have been seriously compromised in this Olympic year. Gasquet is a joke, a businessman playing tennis, but Djoko’s dominating win against Tipsarevic was telling. Except that Tommy Haas in his second match of the day took Djoko to three sets!
How about Tomic beating Harrison? Not a good sign for ol Ryan as the whole summer has been pretty much a complete bust. When you lose to a guy who doesn’t know how to win of late, you’ve got to reassess what you’re doing.
Scoop Malinowski · August 13, 2012 at 1:54 pm
True, the Olympics has mixed up the US Open season but it’s not like we are going to see F-Lo, Tomic, Fognini and Youzhny in the SF of Cincy, the pecking order isn’t going to change at all. Dan did Djokovic step up and finally take on the Markowitz QA? Harrison will be fine, so will Tomic, how about the Blake win over Anderson that’s his best win a long time. Plenty of life left in JB who now endorses Travis Mathew, no longer sporting Fila.
Steve · August 13, 2012 at 1:58 pm
It will definitely help Djoker’s confidence. Of course, beating my beloved Gasquet is not the same as beating Nadal, Fed, Delpo or even Murray.
I heard Drysdale say something like “tennis is prone to domination by one player”. It’s usually true and usually due to the confidence levels of the top 5. I have no idea how Nadal is feeling right now. I look forward to his return. Fed’s gotta feel good after dispensing if Djoker at Wimby and making finals.
Steve · August 13, 2012 at 2:00 pm
I see absolutely no reason to change my early year prediction that Federer will win the US Open. He damn near won it last year.
Dan Markowitz · August 13, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Tennis prone to domination by one player? Huh, Cliffy! Then how come we’ve had three different slam winners this year? How come the women have had players like Jancovic and Wozniaki as No. 1’s? It’s clearly dominated by three/four players on the men’s side. Fed, Nadal and Djoko have each won three slams in a year in the past decade, but that’s somewhat rare in tennis history. If tennis was dominated by one player, how come a player hasn’t won a Grand Slam since 1968?
I’m going to keep mum for now on relations with Djoko in Toronto, but make no mistake, you will hear in full detail what happened.
Steve · August 13, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Well, Dan, clearly Sampras dominated, followed by a small window, Federer dominated, small window. It’s the cycle of Men’s tennis. If you can hold onto #1 for at least 100 weeks then you were dominant.
Right now there is no dominant player. It’s an excellent time for someone else to strike or for Fed to grab #18. Djoker can re-establish himself.
Harold · August 13, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Donald Young goes down to Jesse Levine. The streak lives
Michael · August 13, 2012 at 8:04 pm
Harold, what # is that ? This is getting exciting. Spadea must be sweating his record.
Will Spadea make an appearance or otherwise acknowledge the record if it’s broken like Borg with Nadal and Sampras with Federer ?
Dan markowitz · August 13, 2012 at 8:14 pm
That’s pretty funny, Michael. I’ll have to ask him, but he might not think it too funny. I know Vince maintains that the streak should actually only be 18 I think (Young is at 17 I think) b/c they tacked on three matches V played in that German World Team Tennis event before the French Open which I don’t think count in the rankings.
Steve · August 14, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Scoop, I think it’s time you back up your Dolgo beliefs with at least quarter final prediction for the Open.
He can definitely knock out a big name like Djoker.
Dan Markowitz · August 14, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Steve,
You are aware of the fact that Dolgo has won a total of six games in the last two matches he’s lost, right. He beat Querrey and Haas at D.C., neither top-10 players. Dolgo is the Henri Leconte of today’s game, only not as good.
Steve · August 14, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Dan,
You are aware Dolgo gave Djoker all he could handle in their first set at the US Open last year. He also took out Solderling when Soldering was at Delpo stature.
Steve · August 14, 2012 at 7:29 pm
AND he’s raps so you should be a big fan. He’s eclipsed your guy on the musical front.
Scoop Malinowski · August 14, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Steve, Dolgopolov is impossible to predict as far as results, you just never know what’s gonna happen, he just won a title then follows it up with two duds. I do think he will someday reach top 10 or 5 even, and threaten at a major or two.
Michael · August 15, 2012 at 5:41 am
“You are aware Dolgo gave Djoker all he could handle in their first set at the US Open last year. ”
I would cite that match as evidence that Dolgo isn’t beating Djoker anytime in the foreseeable future.
Dolgo played a great set (for him) and still came up short. And he was completely spent. Djoker rolled over him the next two and looked like he could have played several more. Dolgo was beaten down by the end. What’s changed in a year ? Dolgo’s no closer to beating Djoker today then he was a year ago. Which is to say, not very close at all.
Scoop Malinowski · August 15, 2012 at 12:56 pm
I’m disappointed in Dolgopolov, losing first round badly twice after winning a title is not a good sign. But then again it illustrates just how competitive and difficult it is to survive on the ATP Tour. Every week is a new week. It’s what have you done for me lately. Just doesn’t seem like Dolgopolov has near the amount of consistency that it will take to become an impact player. He may be one of those players who can shock and dazzle a couple of times a year. But to become a consistent threat, a solid top 5 player seems out of reach for him at this point. Dolgo might be happy where he is, makes a good living, sees the world, he might not be one of those machines who just needs to win win win. Three years ago he was a complete no name, for him to get to this point has been a miracle in itself.
Steve · August 15, 2012 at 1:43 pm
Well, he’s already been top 20 for a while now which shows consistency. They don’t just hand you a ranking. He also took a set from Djoker this year on clay. If he can get that first serve consistency up look out.
His game frustrates Djoker.
Scoop Malinowski · August 15, 2012 at 2:20 pm
His game definitely bothers Djokovic, I remember they interviewed on the court after the US Open match last year and he tried to downplay Dolgopolov, emphasizing the windy conditions made him uncomfortable more so than his game, not wanting to give Dolgo’s weird awkward style too much credit. I definitely got the sense Djok viewed Dolgo as a big threat during that interview and he tried to conceal it. The problem Dolgo has to fix is he loses too many matches he should not lose – to players like Cipolla. Dolgo is definitely an enigma.
Loreley · August 16, 2012 at 8:54 pm
Dolgopolov has health issues. Check out his Wikipedia profile.
Scoop Malinowski · August 17, 2012 at 12:32 am
Yes it’s well documented Dolgo feels ill in some matches. THink they’ve even called it some kind of blood problem. He sure looks strong and healthy most of the time, thank goodness.