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Maybe Red was right and Djokovic is superior to Federer
7 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Phenomenal display of super tennis last night by Novak Djokovic. It was the quality of shotmaking that makes you wonder: Is Djokovic’s best tennis better than Roger’s?
When Djokovic is playing his best tennis it almost seems he is the better, stronger, superior player. He just does not miss from the baseline, his movement is unbelievable, his backhand is more dependable, and Roger eventually runs out of ideas and breaks down.
The problem for Djokovic is he can’t always conjure up his highest level of tennis, like Federer and Nadal are more innately able to do.
Our very own Dan Markowitz was so moved by a past Djokovic win over Federer a couple of years ago that he famously stated that Djokovic could someday break Federer’s career slam total.
After seeing Djokovic just manhandle Federer like he did last night in the 2011 Australian Open semifinal, that once-highly unpopular and unconventional idea may hold some truth. Like was saw last night, Federer can look helpless and hopeless on the court when Djokovic is playing at his A+ level.
This happens in sports. Sometimes the golfer with the most technically sound and aesthetic swing doesn’t always win the tournaments. The boxer with the superior skills and better jab doesn’t always win the championship match against the crude opponent who is inspired more by hunger, determination and ambition. The fastest race car doesn’t always win the Daytona 500.
Maybe Dan was right after all, and Djokovic is actually the better player than Federer – though he just can’t hit that peak level as often as Federer can find and perform his.
This should be an interesting and perhaps controversial discussion…
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Mitch · January 27, 2011 at 7:57 pm
I didn’t see the match last night, but even if I had, I wouldn’t say Djokovic is “superior” to Federer. I have no problem admitting that his A game is probably better than Fed’s at this point and wouldn’t be surprised if he overtook Fed and even Nadal in the rankings, but I think “superior” needs to be qualified with “right now,” because it has certainly not been the case for any long stretch before.
joyce · January 27, 2011 at 9:33 pm
Worst article ever.
PeteS · January 27, 2011 at 10:09 pm
Djokovic is in his prime years, Federer’s are gone. Djokovic was certainly phenomenal last night, but Federer’s former A-game was certainly better than what Federer AND Djokovic displayed last night.
Dan Markowitz · January 28, 2011 at 1:13 am
Yes, Djoko has seemed to surpass Federer. That is the case when you beat a player twice in a row in slams. I think Djoko is getting more serious about his career. He hired a new fitness trainer. If he tightens up his game, gets a bigger serve, he has a chance to become No. 1. Nadal has to be given a mulligan in his match against Ferrer, although I think Ferrer has zero chance to beat Murray.
As for the Costa Rican query about what happened to the Sampras-Agassi. A Costa Rican brought both of them to Alajuela, which is the town I am about 6 kilometers away from. They were going to play in the soccer stadium here. But a guy I just played with today, the Costa Ricans, or Ticas, as they are known here, hit with a lot of top-spin and most I have seen have one-handed backhands, said that he did not pay for a ticket. He said the man who arranged the exhibition knew nothing about tennis and put up a wooden court. This guy did not think either Sampras or Agassi would play on a wooden court, but it became a moot point when it rained and the event was called off.
Andrew Miller · January 28, 2011 at 3:15 am
You’re only as good as your last result. No shame in semifinals at slams. I think Djokovic is more like Rafa in that he has to have all gears in motion to do his best. Federer can beat a player so many ways.
Gans · January 29, 2011 at 5:30 pm
Scoop,
I couldn’t agree with your conclusions based on 1 or 2 matches. If that is the case, then you could also claim that Simon’s best tennis is equal to or better than Federer’s.
Coming into this match, since that suspicious US open 5-setter, Fed had beaten Djokovic 3 times including the year-end championship.
Plus, how could you compare a 29-30 year old aging champion vs. a 6 years younger opponent who is much more hungrier to win slams and make this sort of conclusion?
To me, it appeared that an in-form younger opponent knocked an out-of-form and/ or under-prepared champion who couldn’t find any rhythm what-so-ever. Otherwise, no matter how good Novak is, Roger giving away a 5-3 lead is unthinkable.
Fed has simply become inconsistent due to the tennis mileage he has put in. He is human now. That’s why the young bull was able to knock him down the way he did. As Fed said, let’s wait for 6 months.
– Gans, Louisville, still @ Chennai 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · February 1, 2011 at 1:05 pm
It’s just an opinion : ) Maybe Djokovic saved his best tennis for the slams and not the Masters Series and the Basel final. It looked like Djokovic was at another level. Simon has strong game but not strong enough to get deep into slams, or not yet anyway, maybe he will get stronger. If you remember, Djokovic at his best has always given Federer big trouble – Canada Open and US Open in 2007 and Australian Open 2008. Also 2007 US Open was a very close match where Djokovic had set points in first two sets of that US Open final, but failed to convert. Djokovic is matured now and a stronger smarter more experienced player. He could possibly go on a rampage of domination.