By Louise Belcourt
Can ATP world no 1 Novak Djokovic reproduce the outstanding year he had in 2015? He has started the year in brilliant form trouncing world number 6 Rafael Nadal in Qatar. Then continued this form into the first grand slam of the year in Australia, where he won his first 3 matches against Chung (Korea), Halys (France) and Seppi (Italy world number 28) without dropping a set.
Can anyone stop him winning back-to-back Australian Open’s and dominating the game in 2016?
It was just under 10 years ago when the great Roger Federer was also close to unbeatable, winning 3 grand slams and reaching the final of the other, in 2006 and 2007. Djokovic repeated this incredible feat in 2015, winning all majors aside from the French Open where he lost to a spirited Stan Wawrinka.
Djokovic said of his 2016 expectations, “It’s almost like, you know, after the season that I’ve had, 2015, anything aside from a title or a final is not a success.â€
Everyone recognises the greatness of the 28 year old Serbian, including spectators, journalists and sports fans alike. The Serbian said “There’s a kind of just an energy, you know, a feel around you that is created by people close to you, the media, the tennis world, so forth, because of this high expectation.â€
Although, not everyone has been singing the Serbian’s praises.
The Australian Open began in controversy with BBC and Buzzfeed suggesting 16 top 50 players had been involved in match fixing. Djokovic has even been embroiled in part of the speculation, with Italian newspaper Tuttosport, on Wednesday suggesting that he threw a match in 2007 against France’s Fabrice Santoro in the Paris masters. Djokovic was not impressed with this adding “Anybody can create a story about any match. That’s my point. There hasn’t been too many matches where top players lost in last decade or so in early rounds. You can pick any match that you like that the top player lost and just create a story out of it.â€
The Serbian admitted that he had been approached (indirectly) in 2007 to fix a match in St. Petersburg. “I was approached through people that were working with me at that time, that were with my team. Of course, we threw it away right away.â€
With his intensity, drive and focus I don’t believe this controversy will dampen his chances of a 6th Australian Open tennis championship.
With Federer his most likely opponent in the Australian Open semi-final, their head to head record is 22 wins a piece. Although, the last time Federer beat Djokovic in a grand slam match was in Wimbledon 2012. If form goes his way then Djokovic will either face Murray or his recent nemesis Stan Wawrinka in the final. A match against Wawrinka will be a tougher ask, with Wawrinka knowing how to beat the world number 1 in Melbourne, having done so in the 2014 quarter final when he went on to win the title.
Djokovic knows how to sustain the pressure on and off the court. He said “When the tough gets going, you try to dig out what’s in you. You’ve got to be tough, not just on match days but on off days as well….It’s a constant feel that you’re under the radar. That makes you stay in that kind of frame of mind that is very intense and focused.â€
I would not bet against Djokovic. Would you? (Louis Belcourt is our correspondent at the Australian Open)
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Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2016 at 2:18 pm
Heck no 🙂 Be very surprised if he loses a set – Djokovic is in a zone right now that no player has ever been in – good to see the fixing allegations controversy is not affecting his play at all –
Andrew Miller · January 23, 2016 at 3:41 pm
Louise, I’m betting against Djokovic. He hasn’t lost in ages and I think Wawrinka, Murray are ready to go. I think Wawrinka gets by Raonic and I think the Wawrinka-Murray show-down will be a classic.
Wawrinka committed fully to being a champ a few years back and he has an edge that helps him win slams – just like Djokovic. Both have a gear. Murray is coming off his big Davis Cup win as the best player in decades from the UK and he has an urgency to win another slam (and probably after doing that, drop off quite a bit).
I think Wawrinka and Murray both nab another slam and one a piece this year. I think Raonic CAN play spoiler, but I don’t think he will this tournament. One more and Raonic comes up big at Wimbledon, maybe as a finalist.
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2016 at 3:47 pm
Pmac picked Stan to win it all – if it’s Stan vs Djok no way am I betting Djokovic though ) Stan pushes Djokovic to the limits every time they play in a major – Stan is looking great right now – Andy just hasn’t threatened Djokovic in a long long time – can’t see him doing it now – Fed is always a very stern test for Djokovic but not as dangerous as Stan –
sharoten · January 24, 2016 at 5:30 am
“Be very surprised if he loses a set”
You must have been very surprised tonight then when he lost two sets against Simon. Simon for heavens sake. Djokovic is going to choke again. He won’t win the AO.
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2016 at 7:43 am
Simon has beaten Fed and Rafa and is 4-0 vs Hewitt – no joke – Djokovic and Fed and Rafa often seem to have a subpar match at many of their majors – this was Djokovic’s subpar match – credit to Simon too though – we all know he’s a great player —
Gans · January 24, 2016 at 4:51 pm
Sinon is Simon. He did what he had to. Djokovic played poorly also. Novak sbowed he is human after all.
This is what team Fed has been waiting for. Now if Nishikori can take it to 5 sets, then I say other top guns have a good chance.
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2016 at 5:00 pm
Is it possible Djokovic showed fake vulnerability and played poorly on purpose? missing all those bhs and drop shots was weird – new he could beat Gillou no matter what and just played the way he did for whatever ulterior motives – now there is a little less pressure and expectation on Djokovic because of how vulnerable he looked vs Gilles –
Thomas Tung · January 24, 2016 at 9:34 pm
I don’t think so, Scoop. From the look of it, Novak just had one of those “off days”. That it happened against a very tricky opportunist like Simon ended up being a rough day in the office, one that Joker barely got out of. If it was against a lesser player, or a higher-ranked player that is a lot more straightforward (like Raonic), Djokovic might have won in 3-4 sets, 2-3 of which might have been tough. But Simon is no joke — this guy has been a pain in Federer’s back for years (when Roger was in his prime, he was having a lot of tough encounters with Gilles): see their HtH here, with scores: http://www.stevegtennis.com/head-to-head/men/Gilles_Simon/Roger_Federer/
For that matter, here’s the Simon-Djokovic HtH:
http://www.stevegtennis.com/head-to-head/men/gilles_simon/Novak_Djokovic/
Federer and Djokovic may win against Simon, but Simon (repeatedly!) puts both top dogs to grind it out like “just another Top 50 guy” for a win.
Gans · January 24, 2016 at 10:46 pm
Scoop- we may never know the truth but it is hard for me to accept this hypothesis.
Why- because, Simon is not a toy EVEN for someone as good as Djokovic. Did you watch the match? There were many, many great rallies that Simon won with good hitting- not just due to Novak’s UEs.
If Djokovic is such a great that he could toy with Simon and finish him when he wants to- do you think he would worry about the pressure and what others think of his chances?
The hypothesis doesn’t hold water. My opinion of course.
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 7:44 am
Simon is a great player but I think we have seen this before – the favorite to win the title has a subpar match in the middle of the tournament that extends to five sets – then he survives and goes on to the end of the tournament – Fed vs Janko years ago – Rafa vs Isner – Djokovic knows the real tournament really starts in the SF vs Fed and the final vs Stan Raonic or Andy in F – so he’s subconsciously looking ahead – it’s hard to explain – but we’ve seen this happen so many times when a top champion gets embroiled in a five setter in the middle of the major – survives it despite playing below his best – then regroups and win the title –
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 7:53 am
Gans I know Simon is not a toy and he has done this in the past – forcing top players into five setters in majors (Federer) – but falls short – it’s a combination of Simon playing great and Djokovic with one eye looking ahead – knowing he still has so much hard work left to do to win the title – there are so many mind games in tennis – and also in boxing – Roy Jones once even tried to claim he lost a grudge match to Antonio Tarver “to spite my father” 🙂 I’m sure Djokovic will play a lot better his next match and he will be a lot more fired up –
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 8:40 am
The story of the Aus Open is ZHUANG SHUAI – what a win over Keys – 0-14 previously in major first rounds – on the verge of retiring from tennis – brought her parents to one last major – barely qualies into main draw and then wins four matches and now is in the quarters – WOW – my new favorite player – what dedication and perseverance – a new star has been born – suddenly out of nowhere Zuang Shuai —
Andrew Miller · January 25, 2016 at 10:02 am
Zuang’s win is enormous.
Andrew Miller · January 25, 2016 at 10:32 am
Sorry, ZHANG’s win is great! That’s an outstanding win, Keyes was nailing the ball in a way that normally suggests a quick win. But Zhang Shuai seemed to do what troubles players: hitting a little deeper, going down the middle, lulling the opponent to sleep, and then going bigger to the sidelines. Great strategy Agassi used to do this. Keyes looked exhausted by the third set, hand on the knees just like Chung when he played Djokovic.
Shocked here that it’s Raonic over Wawrinka. I pick Murray to make the final for what it’s worth, now that Wawrinka’s out and Raonic’s on that side of the draw.
And how about that.
Ferrer beat Steve Johnson, blocking the all-U.S. mens slam found of 16, then beat Isner, guaranteeing that the 5 year streak of no U.S. player in a mens’ slam quarterfinal stays intact.
Ferrer and his new babolat. Who knew. The big four have nothing to do with the U.S. men’s inability to make a slam quarterfinal or further, and everything to do with a Spaniard whose name isn’t Nadal.
Andrew Miller · January 25, 2016 at 10:36 am
One interesting thing about the men’s draw: the former “young guns” are making headway in more slam draws.
Here’s your mens qf:
Djokovic vs Nishikori
Federer vs Berdych
Monfils vs Raonic
Murray vs Ferrer
6/8 are the old guard
2/8 are the former “young guns”, now mid-career players.
Andrew Miller · January 25, 2016 at 10:51 am
Huge win by Konta over Makarova. Konta also pulled some Agassi out there – reminded me of when Agassi reigned in his game against Blake, started going for his returns and first-strike off balls, going for the “better, down the line winner” after one, two ball rally.
Amazed Makarova got away with the squeaky shoes before the Konta serve. Essentially you can hear her squeaky shoes 1 second before Konta serves, very distracting. I’ve heard squeaky shoes during rallies but rarely before a serve.
Thomas Tung · January 25, 2016 at 12:16 pm
Ferrer d. Isner — no surprises there, David (and his returns) OWN Big John by 6-1, now 7-1. At this rate, John is making himself the (considerably) lesser, American version of Greg Rusedski (Greg always had the serve, then put a lot of work into the forehand in the late-90s and IMO it helped him to win a few key matches).
As per: http://www.stevegtennis.com/head-to-head/men/David_Ferrer/John_Isner/
Ferrer seems to be for Isner what Santoro was to Safin — worst possible matchup, even though on paper both big men wipe the floor with those guys.
Hartt · January 25, 2016 at 12:33 pm
I had predicted a Raonic win over Wawrinka (in 4 sets, so was wrong about that). Milos is playing some outstanding tennis right now. Lots of net play, some serve and volley, to go along with the great serve and FH. I was impressed by how well he is moving at the net now and showing good anticipation. Andy and Milos are tied at 3-3 in their h2h, and Milos was hindered by the foot surgery and injuries last season, so I think he has a definite shot against Andy, who is playing very well himself. Could be a terrific match.
Andrew Miller · January 25, 2016 at 12:56 pm
Thomas and Hartt, some great predictions on your end. I could never see the Raonic win coming I was sure that Wawrinka, slam champ would impose his game and win in four or fewer. Raonic is playing better than ever. He almost looks like a different player, but maybe Wawrnka, not being the fastest guy out there, makes Raonic look faster in comparison. I was surprised, Raonic looks like he was the slam champ.
As for Ferrer, I thought for sure Isner would come up with the goods. Ferrer really does own him and I think if there is a h2h between Ferrer and all u.s. Men’s players he is probably single handedly responsible for playing spoiler to u.s. players at tons of slams. He owned Roddick too.
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 3:17 pm
Zhang’s run gives everybody and anybody hope – it’s the hardest thing in tennis for an extreme outsider like her to push and force her way into the elite category and by making the quarters of a major automatically makes Zhang an elite player – especially because of her history of total failure in majors before – now all the sudden she has shown past failures mean NOTHING – all people all players should take note – Zhang Shuai is a tennis hero and now a tennis legend – and nobody can take that away from her —
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 3:19 pm
Raonic showed us this HUGE run was coming – the win over Fed in Brisbane set the stage for this HUGE run by Raonic – We NOW KNOW for CERTAIN that Raonic will win a major – beating a red hot Stanimal is your proof – Well done by Raonic –
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 3:22 pm
Andrew: Ivanovic tried the squeaky shoes distraction tactic at the Aussie Open about 5-7 years ago – worked a bit but she abandoned it after using it for at least one tourney (Aus Open) – Christian Bergstrom said mcEnroe accused him of using the squeaky shoe trick in one of their matches – learned this from an interview with Bergstrom for Facing mcEnroe –
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 3:23 pm
Thomas: Ferrer is a nighmare for a LOT of players 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 3:28 pm
Good call Hartt – didn’t realize Raonic has a good record vs Andy – I do recall one match and it was heated – Andy trying to hold back the young uppity buck – their next clash will be very very interesting – I sense there is a some grudge between the two which always makes it more interesting —
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 3:30 pm
Stan is better as the underdog vs Djokovic than vs a younger player like Raonic where he is heavily expected to win – Djokovic surely is breathing a huge sigh of relief right now but he is surely hoping Andy beats Raonic because he knows he can handle Andy and the new version of Raonic is a ?
Thomas Tung · January 25, 2016 at 5:04 pm
Do you have any “insider info” on Raonic/Murray not getting along? I don’t know too much about Milos personally, but the impression I get is that he’s a pleasant and nice guy to be around. I know Murray can get prickly and antsy at times (probably because, like McEnroe, Andy is quite perfectionist and can get very agitated when things aren’t going well).
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 5:15 pm
No Thomas – just a vibe I senses watching them play last year – we’ll see how it plays out when they play – if they both get by their QFs –
Hartt · January 25, 2016 at 5:25 pm
I have not heard anything about Andy and Milos not getting along. One match where Andy was very upset about losing was Indian Wells in 2014, but I think that had more to do with Andy feeling he played poorly in the 3rd set and should not have lost that match, so was mad at himself.
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 5:36 pm
Hartt – I doubt there is any public record of a conflict – but I saw a match they played and sensed above average tensions – the old established veteran vs the ambitious striving uppity upstart dynamic – Andy and the rest of the elites do NOT want to let Raonic into their club – BE SURE OF THAT – I’m sure there is an unspoken dislike of Raonic’s ambitions partly because they view Raonic as a threat to their statuses – sort of like Fed disliking the ambitious Djokovic – we will see –
Hartt · January 25, 2016 at 5:51 pm
I can see them not liking Milos because he is a threat – that makes perfect sense. And most players are very clear that they hate playing big servers. Now that Milos is being successful with an attacking game, the “old guard” must hate to see him more than ever. And Milos has always been very ambitious and willing to work extremely hard to reach his goals.
He seems to be a nice guy, so he should be OK on that front. I think it’s interesting that he likes the characters – he and Tomic are friends and he speaks highly of Gulbis. In fact. when asked which tennis player he would like to be, he said Gulbis, but with Fed’s career!
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2016 at 6:21 pm
Every top player likes the punching bag – but all of them are going to be wary and worried about a guy like Raonic – Raonic is a pure gentleman – there is nothing offensive or disrespectful about his personality – but be sure of that fact that they all want to beat him down and keep him on the outside as a floundering failure – that’s just the way the tennis food chain is – Raonic has more than paid his dues and suffered enough – if he were to shock the world on Sat night it will be a wonderful feelgood story –
Bryan · January 25, 2016 at 6:43 pm
What are the odds on Djokovic winning the AO? He looked awful against Simon, 100 unforced errors and was mentally cracking several times. Could’ve been a one match deal but he seems ripe for Federer or Raonic to clip his wings.
Hartt · January 25, 2016 at 6:45 pm
Nothing would make me happier than a Milos victory at the AO. I had predicted that he would win a Slam this season but that it would be Wimbledon or the USO. But Novak seems to own this tourney and, given his current domination of the field, it is hard to see anyone else prevailing here. But then, both Cilic and Stan have won Slams in the past couple years, so there is always hope for another surprise.
Bryan · January 25, 2016 at 7:17 pm
“Raonic is a pure gentleman – there is nothing offensive or disrespectful about his personality.”
His public persona is nice but remember he didn’t call a net foul on himself in Montreal against Delpo. The umpire missed it, everyone else saw it, and the player is supposed to call it. That was late in the match and was a critical point that ushered in his win.
I was considering him as a potential favorite before that, but once he robbed my man Delpo I dropped him.
Michael in uk · January 25, 2016 at 7:25 pm
Great piece and excellent discussion in the comments too, thanks everyone!
Must try Google for info on Ferrer’s switch to Babolat from Prince.
Andrew Miller · January 25, 2016 at 7:48 pm
I picked wawrinka or Murray, but the way Raonic is playing, he might do it.
Ferrer with the babolat is like a new man. He is playing even better than normal. Isner in three sets!
Andrew Miller · January 25, 2016 at 9:10 pm
Monfils has a shot too! He played ridiculously well against a fierce Andrey Kuznetsov. No wonder Harry had a hard time with Kuznetsov, that guy is a very astute player.
Monfils versus Raonic. I bet it will be a good match.
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2016 at 8:19 am
I hear you Bryan – that was a cheap move by Raonic but just about all the top players have done similar moves like that during their careers – Djokovic with four medical TOs vs monfils in their us open five setter as teenagers – Rafa bullying the chair ump to halt the French Open final match vs Djokovic because of rain/wet court after he had lost eight straight games which forced the F to be played on monday – Fed racquet smashes and insulting Tomic last week – gotta forgive and forget – stuff happens in heat of the battle – even mild mannered Delpo has had some fiery moments out there –
Andrew Miller · January 26, 2016 at 9:54 am
No love for Andrey Kuznetsov. He has one of the cleanest games I’ve ever seen. Monfils’ game looked even better in beating Kuznetsov.
I haven’t seen Monfils play like this for a while – it’s been a good year and half since Monfils has played like someone in the hunt for a title.
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2016 at 10:06 am
Kuznetsov is very good – you wonder why he disappears for stretches – only occasionally shows top tennis – the foundation is there to be a top player – he won jr wibledon in 2009 beat Bernie in the SF and Jordan Cox in F – Kuznetsov should have a higher ATP public profile than he does – who knows – this could be his breakout as a pro –
Hartt · January 26, 2016 at 10:14 am
Surely there is a statute of limitations on bad behavior – that net-touching incident by Raonic was a few years ago, but people still bring it up. I was disappointed in that action and even more so by his petulance in the press conference that followed. But Delpo needed to put it behind him and get on with the match and instead kept on stewing about it and took himself out.
Raonic did learn from it, admitted later he was wrong and apologized to Delpo. It is when bad behavior is a pattern rather than an isolated incident that we can be critical. As Scoop said, virtually all players have done something objectionable at some point in their careers.
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2016 at 1:06 pm
If people are going to dislike Raonic for that one incident – well it speaks volumes about them – Raonic is a model sportsman and a credit to the sport – he will make a fine grand slam champion and perhaps ATP world no 1 someday – I can see it happening if he keeps progressing and Djokovic stumbles or gets hurt —
sharoten · January 27, 2016 at 8:05 am
“Rafa bullying the chair ump to halt the French Open final match vs Djokovic because of rain/wet court after he had lost eight straight games which forced the F to be played on monday”
What the eff are you talking about???? It had rained for about six hours, they had had two rain delays already, the balls were soaking wet and the court was mud. The final of a grand slam should be not be played in horrific conditions where neither of the players can play decent tennis. Good lord, I can’t believe the things that Rafa gets blamed for.
Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2016 at 8:26 am
If Rafa was rolling and about to finish the match he would have finished it – But Djokovic was in control and dominating Rafa and was about to go up the second break in the fourth set and Rafa was desperate and forced the match to be stopped – Djokovic was playing well in the conditions and was on fire and obviously wanted to proceed – NO DOUBT if Rafa was about to win and was having his way with a patsy opponent he would have finished the job – I feel it was a strategic move by Rafa to stop the match when he did down just the one break which he was able to get back the next day – which then caused Djokovic to tighten and then Rafa finished the job in four sets – That eight game roll by Djokovic was the portent of things to come – it was the first flash of Djokovic showing he could dominate Rafa on clay – But I do agree with what Fred Perry once said about poor conditions like that: “Great champions should not have to play in bad conditions” – But that’s the way it goes sometimes and time and TV schedules dictate –