He’s won three majors, almost won the fourth in Paris, has the #1 ranking wrapped up for the season, what else does Novak Djokovic need to prove in 2011? Nothing.
It’s November, it’s been a long season, there is nothing left for him to achieve this year. Winning Basel or London will do little to enhance Nole’s historic 2011 which saw him dominate the ATP Tour from January to October. Losing to Kei Nishikori in the semis in Basel is likely a result of a lack of motivation and hunger when in just a few months, Djokovic will have to begin to defend all his points and three slam titles, starting in January.
It’s gotta be hard for Djokovic to get his intensity up to 100% to beat a guy like Nishikori at a smaller tournament in Basel, when he’s probably feeling tired and his body is aching. Why drain himself when he really doesn’t need to?
The King of Tennis is obligated to play the London Masters but I don’t see him thriving there. Do you?
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Steve · November 6, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Well, Nishikori, I believe, beat Berdych on the way to the final as well. Maybe part of the story is that Nishikori’s star is rising. He’s already a huge star in his country. He had lost some time training due to reconstructive elbow surgery and now the 5’10” player is putting it all together.
Djoker did not have his best day at Basel but you have to be excited to play the top guys in London –I really enjoy the round robin format. They mentioned a shoulder injury which underlines the question: How does Federer not get these injuries(outside of mono)? Nadal called him a tennis freak, it must be true.
Dan Markowitz · November 6, 2011 at 6:07 pm
I didn’t get a chance to see this match, but can’t believe Kei bageled Djoko. That’s hard to believe. Look, beating Berdych and Djoko in any tournament is unreal, but I just can’t take Kei seriously until he does well outdoors and in a major. I like his game, but he is a counter-puncher and I don’t see him getting much bigger. He might be the next Ferrer, but somehow I doubt it.
Djoko took care of Malisse and Bag-man, but maybe he started wearing down. I don’t think you can truly assess his performance again until 2012. You can’t come back and play well afer 40 days off in one week or even one month. He needs time to get his whole game back together.
Scoop Malinowski · November 6, 2011 at 8:23 pm
I think Djokovic is unwilling to extend himself to 100% and extra at this point in the season. I didn’t see the match but losing the second set he was probably feeling, Why bother killing myself in a SF in Basel? I’ve had a really big year, arguably the greatest in the history of tennis, I really need to conserve myself for 2012. meanwhile, Nishikori is probably playing like it’s the biggest match of his career or one of them. Put Kei vs. Nole first round in Melbourne and I’ll take Nole in three sets in well under two hours.
Martin G · November 6, 2011 at 8:46 pm
Scoop your quote – “arguably the greatest in the history of tennis”.
I’ve got to laugh about that.
You really don’t like Federer big time to forget his 2 or three years when he won three grand slams in a year plus final at French and plus winning end year Master cup and so on. All together 11 – 12 titles 3 years in a row.
Best match winning percentage in a season
1. John McEnroe (.965, 82-3)
2. Roger Federer (.953, 81-4)
Novak this year – 64-3, great but not even close to greatest.
I really hope that Novak doesn’t have attitude why bother but his loss in Cinny was strange one.
Scoop Malinowski · November 6, 2011 at 11:10 pm
Martin, I thought Djokovic’s losses this year were each for a reason. The French crowd being so pro-Fed rattled and effected his play. The loss to Murray in Cincy was as a result of him not wanting to expend too much energy in Cincy with the US Open coming up. Then the loss in Davis Cup was because he was still fatigued from US Open and such a long season. Then the loss to Kei was well, maybe a semi tank as again he doesn’t really want or need to win all these matches at the end of the season in which he dominated. I really can’t remember McEnroe’s season at all because it was before I got into tennis hardcore, imagine some of those losses had reasons other than being outplayed. Federer I don’t remember his four losses that year, I’d have to go back and look at his record that year. I really think Djokovic was just about unbeatable this year and could have been, he was very close to being undefeated but it’s hard to keep your A plus game going for the lesser events and when everyone is gunning for you.
Andrew Miller · November 6, 2011 at 11:34 pm
I think re: Kei Nishikori, Scoop is right again. Scoop said before here on the site for us fans that Nishikori with Gilbert in his ear and a pretty nifty game in hand could do damage. He has.
Nishikori: comeback player of the year?
Gilbert: runner up to Djokovic’s coach as coach of the year?
So far Gilbert has only failed with one player – Bogdanovic. This string of results from Nishikori has to solidify two things: first, when coaching a talented player, few are better at getting the most out of a talented player than Brad Gilbert; second, Brad Gilbert also succeeds by only coaching talented players.
Agassi in his book had said this. You be the judge.
“Adopting Brad’s concepts is like learning to write with my left hand. He calls his philosophy Bradtennis. I call it Braditude. Whatever the hell it’s called, it’s hard. I feel as if I’m back in school, not comprehending, longing to be somewhere else. Again and again Brad says I need to be consistent, steady, like gravity. He says this over and over…”
Agassi loses a bunch.
“[Brad says] You have to suffer. You have to lose a [bleep]load of close matches. And then one day you’re going to win a close one and the skies are going to part and you’re going to break through. You just need that one breakthrough, that one oepning, and after that nothing will stop you…”
“You’re crazy” (Agassi to Gilbert)
“You’re learning” (Gilbert to Agassi)
“You’re nuts” (Agassi to Gilbert)
“You’ll see” (Gilbert to Agassi)
No knock on Bogdanovic, who Gilbert coached when LTA and Andy Murray shifted him out of the top coaching spot.
I used to think Gilbert was a miracle worker (after his work with Agassi, Roddick, and Murray), but then after seeing his work with lesser known players like Bogdanovic I thought sheesh, Gilbert is a cherry picker – like the guy in a basketball game who decides not to play defense, waits on the other side of the court while his team is playing 4 on 5, and waits for his team to get the rebound and chuck it down to him where of course, he’s waiting and puts it in the basket. As though the talent did all the work and Gilbert got way too much credit, and that his advice on ESPN and in broadcasting sometimes didn’t sound all too solid – that his analysis sometimes was too informed by the past and not what was unfolding on the court in front of him.
(Cliff Drysdale is pretty good at this – paying attention! If a shift happens I think Cliff is awful good at spotting it, even if other announcers are already heading home, Cliff holds out to see what is actually going on out there on court).
Now I think it must be that no, I misjudged Brad Gilbert. Yeah a lot of the time it feels like he is filled with lots and lots of hot air. But the guy knows how to get a talented player to put that talent to use. There are special coaches out there and you always have to include Gilbert.
So kudos to Scoop here. He called the Nishikori breakout and it’s here. Who knows for how long but Nishikori is on a nice little run.
Dan Markowitz · November 7, 2011 at 1:09 am
Andrew,
Are you kidding me!! Nishikori gets comeback player and Brad coach of the year. Kei won three matches all year in slams and four matches in five Masters events before Shanghai, which isn’t really a serious Masters event because it doesn’t have the top guns and it’s played before 50 people.
Nishikori got knocked out of the first round of the Open by Flavio Cippola. Anyone who loses to a guy named Flavio shouldn’t even get comeback player of Japan.
No, Nishikori’s late run is impressive, but his year has been a disappointment, no matter what his ranking says. This isn’t Donald Young, who at least broke through at a slam this year. Kei is not big time and he has to prove he is at least one major next year.
Scoop Malinowski · November 7, 2011 at 1:38 am
Dan; Brad Gilbert said to Andre and probably Kei too: You’re gonna lose a load of matches then one day you’re gonna win a close one and the skies will part. And then you’re gonna go on a roll. Kei lost a lot of matches, now he won a BIG one, he beat the best player on earth. The skies will part…
I saw Kei beat Ferrer at the US Open a few years back on Armstrong. He looked like a top 5 player that day. He has major talent. We’ll see what happens. I like Kei’s game a lot, still a work in progress. It’s not easy with all the Japanese pressure, as he’s a huge star over there. Let’s hope he can fulfill his potential.
Thomas Covenant · November 7, 2011 at 3:21 am
“Martin, I thought Djokovic’s losses this year were each for a reason. The French crowd being so pro-Fed rattled and effected his play. The loss to Murray in Cincy was as a result of him not wanting to expend too much energy in Cincy with the US Open coming up. Then the loss in Davis Cup was because he was still fatigued from US Open and such a long season.”
So, Djokovic was basically unbeatable…except when he was either distracted by the crowd (screw DC then, eh?) or injured/fatigued/tanking/perge, perge. Way too apologetic. Let me put you in mind of something: after Federer won the US Open in 2006 he went on winning another 22 straight matches and thus concluded the year with the win against Blake at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.
Dan Markowitz · November 7, 2011 at 8:55 am
Thomas, Martin,
Let’s put Federer’s ’06 year in perspective with Djokovic’s ’11 year.
In the slams in ’06, Roger beat: Baghdatis, the 20-year-old, green Nadal at Wimbledon and Andy Roddick at the US Open.
In ’11, Novak beat: 24-year-old Andy Murray, 25-yr-old Nadal, No. 1 in the world coming off his own 3-slam year in ’10 and Nadal again.
I mean is it even close? Beating guys like Roddick, Baggy and a 20-year-old compared to beating the best players of the generation all in their primes?
You want to look at the semis of those years? Fed beat Bjorkman, Nalbandian, Davydenko and Kiefer in the 4 slams. Djoko beat Federer, Federer, and Tsonga and lost to Federer.
I mean is it even comparable? No!
Scoop Malinowski · November 7, 2011 at 12:28 pm
Very Good defense Dan. Djokovic had it super tough in all four of his slams and almost won all four, had he edged Fed in Paris there’s no doubt in my mind he’d have taken care of Nadal in the final.
Steve · November 7, 2011 at 1:16 pm
London will be interesting. Has Nadal come up with some new tactics? The time to get in someone’s head is now. Last year saw Federer crank his backhand against Nadal in the final.
Scoop Malinowski · November 7, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Love the year end championships, some unforgettable matches are played there. Guga’s storm through to the final and whooping Agassi in straight sets to become #1 is the most memorable match for me, Sampras and Becker ranks high too. This year it’s looking like Federer and Murray are the red hot guys, with Djokovic apparently winding down his season and Rafa maybe having his eyes on the Davis Cup final. Maybe this is a year someone will make an unexpected breakthrough. My pick is Murray right now. Though you have to figure Federer is hungry to get out of that #4 slot in the rankings.
Thomas Covenant · November 7, 2011 at 1:47 pm
You mean that Federer is still supposed to be in his prime at age 30? Good one. Well, as I said: Federer went unbeaten after the US Open in 2006, beating the likes of Djokovic, Nalbandian (twice), Gonzalez, Roddick, Ljubicic and…Nadal – all indoors. And these guys were surely no walkovers.
Besides, Dan, that is not what I was really getting at. Back in 2006 it took Federer the same number of matches to win a Grand Slam as it did Djokovic this year – which means the excuse of him being worn out after such a long season (which does not end at the USO) is not tenable in my opinion.
Scoop, what makes you so sure to say Djokovic had it super tough which implies to me Federer had a cakewalk to his 3 Slams back then, although he funnily lost just as many sets as Nole did this year en route to his 3 majors (8)?
Scoop Malinowski · November 7, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Thomas, the reason I say that is because Djokovic had to beat Federer in Australia (SF), Nadal at Wimbledon (F) and Federer (SF) and Nadal (F) at US Open. Those are four matches he would have been expected to lose back in January. Djokovic had to get through two of the greatest players in history to win his three majors this year.
Dan Markowitz · November 7, 2011 at 6:51 pm
That is the truly historic asterisk on this season and I don’t see how anyone can compare McEnroe’s 84 or Fed’s 06 to Djoko’s 11. Not even McEnroe does that, well, probably he does when he’s amongst his peeps.
But the asterisk is there b/c Djoko beat the No. 1 player, a guy who won three slams last year, 6-0 in finals of masters and slams. He beat the GOAT 5-1 this season and at the Australian and U.S. Opens.
I think Mac’s 81 when he beat Borg at Wimby and U.S. Open is a great year. If he had played and won Aussie or French (he quartered losing to Lendl as he did in DC later in year), it could’ve been historic. You’ve got to beat the great ones to be great yourself, and Federer never did. He’s still great, he just didn’t ever have a year like Djoko just did.
lit · November 7, 2011 at 7:04 pm
“You’ve got to beat the great ones to be great yourself, and Federer never did”
So Nadal never beat any greats. And Novak never beat any greats. So why then he or his season is great?
Thomas Covenant · November 7, 2011 at 7:09 pm
Alright, I admit that Djokovic´s success this year seems more prominent judging by the names he beat on his way to triump, but to imply that his feat was physically more demanding to what Federer did in the past certainly doesn´t seem right to me. Federer played a complete year in 2006, from A to Izzard with a total of 97 matches, one more than Davydenko who seemed to be playing competitive tennis day-to-day at the time. If we narrow down a tennis year solely to the majors then yes, of course, Djokovic´s season impresses me more but – like you – I really appreciate the end of the season with the year end championships and look forward to watching some more indoor tennis and hopefully some memorable encounters between the Top 4.
Dan Markowitz · November 7, 2011 at 9:41 pm
Yes, Djoko cannot match Fed for durability and consistency of season. And Fed worked hard to achieve his great seasons. I just don’t think they’re historically great b/c he didn’t beat great players.
Nadal is a great player and last year a great season beating Fed in the finals of Aussie O and Djoko in US O finals. Look, Fed is clearly the most beautiful player of all time and his fluidity makes him less injury-prone.
Scoop Malinowski · November 7, 2011 at 9:51 pm
What Federer accomplished that year was fantastic. I don’t think we’re downplaying or discrediting it at all, hope it doesn’t seem that way. It’s just that what Djokovic has done this year has been just a little more impressive. Dan, I interviewed a marathoner from Spain Alessandra Aguilar and she said tennis is her favorite sport outside running so naturally I asked who she liked to watch and she said Federer because he plays an easy more artistic game. She likes the way he plays the most. When I suggested that Nadal is the better player than Federer, she said she supported Nadal but prefers to watch Federer. She loves Federer. That surprised me coming from a Spanish woman. It speaks of the respect Federer has all over the world. Not that Nadal doesn’t, but Federer is at a different level. It’s hard to imagine any player eclipsing Federer in this regard of admiration and respect. As much as we like Djokovic, he’s just not everybody’s cup of tea like Federer is.
Dan Markowitz · November 7, 2011 at 11:30 pm
No, I agree with you. Federer stays back too much for my absolute liking, but he’s a beautiful beautiful player with exquisite skills. Remember what Wilander said at the Open that if all the Top 10 played like Djokovic it would be very boring. A Djoko v Djoko match is not that interesting while a Federer v Federer match is amazing in the possibilities of shot-making.
How about Raonic losing to Benneteau in Paris? I like Raonic’s game and his ability like no one else of the young guns–maybe Harrison and Dmitrov to some degree–to come up to the net.
Scoop Malinowski · November 8, 2011 at 1:03 am
Gotta admit that some of those Federer-Nadal battles on grass and hard court and clay in Masters Series were just mind blowing. Nadal could definitely bring out the best of Federer. And worst sometimes.
Steve · November 8, 2011 at 1:26 pm
With Federer it’s more of an astounding multi-year dominance. Maybe 2003 thru 2007? There was a period where it was assumed he would win everything. Can Djoker do it two years running? Will he have the focus? Will his shoulder & etc. hold up? Will he leave it all behind for stand-up comedy? Should be interesting.
I have to say though I’d rather play Murray in a final than Baghdatis in his prime or a 20 yr old Nadal for a bunch of reasons.
Dan Markowitz · November 8, 2011 at 5:06 pm
Did Baghdatis have a prime? Murray’s a far better player than Bag-man ever was. Baggy’s usually good for a set or two, but he doesn’t have great fitness.
Andrew Miller · November 8, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Why can’t Nishikori be comeback player of the year? In two short years, back from #420 to #24 now. Even if you measure it against last year, from #98 or so to #24.
So maybe it’s not a comeback. But that is most improved territory.
Steve · November 8, 2011 at 7:34 pm
So Dan I guess you concede a 20 yr old Nadal is tougher opponent than Murray? Great. Baghdatis can be an electrifying shot-maker. Of course you know this from his classic match against Agassi at the US Open. His serve is also strong when he grooves it and when he’s inspired you’ll have a battle on your hands.; AND he took a set of Federer in the Aussie Open finals. Did Murray?
I’ve seen Murray in many slam finals now and he comes out mentally flat. I also question his tactics against the top guys.
Scoop Malinowski · November 8, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Bogie for most improved player. What a story he is.
Andrew Miller · November 8, 2011 at 10:05 pm
Scoop is right. Bogie is most improved. It’s actually a big competition though for that award!
Nishikori – quite a leap.
Raonic – he would have been this if he didnt get hurt.
DYoung – if he can keep it up he would be in the running
Andrew Miller · November 9, 2011 at 2:49 am
Re: Raonic and Benneteau, actually not surprising b/c the French players for some reason play well in Paris (when the pressure is off) and poorly at Roland Garros (when the pressure is sky high).
Based on how Raonic was playing early season, he was the best of the youth. Only Ferrer could stop him. Based on how he played then wouldnt surprise me, if healthy, he does some major damage.
Scoop Malinowski · November 9, 2011 at 1:39 pm
Paris indoors is a wild exciting atmosphere that ignites some of the French players who have thrived there, notably Tsonga and Monfils. Poor Raonic has not been the same player he was earlier in the year, like Del Potro it’s been a long road back to form for Raonic. Andrew I agree with your four for Most Improved, with Bogie getting the slight edge. Granollers might deserve mention also, he’s won two events this year.
Mitch · November 10, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Tomic has also had a breakout season. Made the quarters of Wimbledon, put up a few wins over top 10 players and had strong performances against Nadal and Djokovic in the majors.
Scoop Malinowski · November 10, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Right on Mitch, Definitely overlooked The B-Train, he’s made a big move this year and deserves mention in that Most Improved category.