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Jun/16

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King of Clay Novak Djokovic: Mission Accomplished

69 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios

P1011037Novak Djokovic needed to summon his best tennis to subdue a super inspired Andy Murray today in the Roland Garros final and despite a couple of scares he was able to get the job done to win major title number twelve and finally Roland Garros number one. And no less remarkable Djokovic completed the calendar year grand slam as he is now the reigning champion of all four majors – a feat that has not been achieved since Rod Laver did it nearly a half-century ago. Djokovic started strong breaking Andy at love to start the first set but then lost four straight games. The mighty Serbian was able to find his flow and dominated for the next two and half sets to 5-2 in the third but then Andy made a last stand for 4-5 but it just was not enough. Djokovic squandered a couple of match points but held his nerve on the third when Andy netted a backhand. Djokovic fell to the ground in shocked relief. The man had finally completed his elusive mission. And now he can be considered the greatest and most complete champion in the history of tennis.

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69 comments

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 8, 2016 at 9:16 am

    michael: I got that Roddick bullying and making Djokovic cry story from an eyewitness – Roddick also did the same bully job on young Nishikori in the San Jose locker room and also made him cry – I know you love Roddick because he high fived you once on Ashe stadium but these are facts –

  • CS3 · June 8, 2016 at 9:21 am

    @Michael, fair enough point regarding Connors… I was born in 1977 so obviously I am going by how I saw the New York crowd treat Connors later in his career.. I began watching tennis around 1984 so I am not old enough to have followed Connors in the 70s & early 80s when his abrasive & combative personality wasn’t exactly always embraced…

  • Harold · June 8, 2016 at 9:47 am

    Roddick scared the Adidas shorts off Tsonga at the Aus Open. Never saw someone so intimadated on a Tennis court. Saw guys lose their games because of JMacs douchy behavior, but I dont think they were physically intimadated the way a young Tsonga was.

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 8, 2016 at 10:51 am

    Harold: Good memory but Roddick’s best bullying tactics occurred behind closed doors in the locker room – his verbal abuse literally made Djokovic and Nishikori cry – incredible – there could have been others – I think Spadea experienced Roddick’s wrath in San Jose but he’s not going to talk about it – too humiliating –

  • Michael · June 9, 2016 at 2:22 am

    Sorry, Scoop, but with such a wild story pure hearsay will not suffice; you need to at least name the eyewitness so other people may judge the veracity for themselves. Though I do think Roddick was a bully which is one factor weighing toward your story as true.

    Scoop: “I know you love Roddick because he high fived you once on Ashe stadium but these are facts -”

    That was a good line which made me laugh !

    But truth be told I am not a fan. I refer to him as “one fluke major.”

    What really turned me off Roddick was that Kohlby match Down Under 2008. What an a-hole.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff6_UTPDO9s

    Now that I reviewed the tape again, I’m starting to think the Nole story happened. 🙂

  • Michael · June 9, 2016 at 2:25 am

    PS, it was Armstrong.

    Roddick v. Chela was the match during which he high fived me but the glow wore off.

  • Mat4 · June 9, 2016 at 7:03 am

    Roddick mentioned it himself in a TV show. But he also mentioned that Miljan Amanovic arrived and that he judged it was more prudent for him to calm down, because Amanovic, a mature man already (he’s a PhD, btw), looked quite big.

    That’s what Amanovic says:

    “Far from it that there was physical contact, as he described it somewhere, that he was pressed by Novak with the cabinet. I was there, they had a brief verbal discussion and that’s all. I was just a silent observer but then I do not know if I left any impression threats to him,″ Miljan says with a laugh.

    https://novakindiafans.wordpress.com/2015/07/11/miljan-amanovic-im-sure-he-can-play-like-this-for-another-3-4-years/

  • Mat4 · June 9, 2016 at 7:14 am

    I found the original or the article, and that’s what Amanovic really says (with a little help from Gtrans):

    “Far from it that there was physical contact, as he described it somewhere, that he pressed Novak on the cabinet. I was there, they had a brief verbal discussion and that’s all. I was just a silent observer and I do not know if I left a threatening impression on him,″ Miljan says with a laugh.

    And he continues:

    “It’s normal that a tennis player who has lost a match it not keen to talk about it, but the relationship between the players is correct. There are no problems in sharing the locker room and I do not think the players ask the question: ‘Why do I have to be with this or with that?’ Of course, there are players that you find more or less agreeable, but in general there are no problems.”

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 9, 2016 at 8:10 am

    michael: I seldom reveal my sources 🙂 But this time I can’t and won’t but I know they are legit and these episodes of Roddick verbally abusing Djokovic and Nishikori to the point of making them cry are not fabrications – There are two sides to pro tennis – the one side is that players go to ATP University and are instructed to talk to the media as if you’re talking to your grandparents – then there is the real side to how the players talk and behave amongst themselves when the cameras or fans phones are not in sight 🙂

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 9, 2016 at 8:15 am

    That was great – saw the photo of the high five in a magazine – classic US Open night match moment – Roddick was a great character and competitor and fun to watch whether he was happy or irate –

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 9, 2016 at 8:26 am

    Source told me if the locker room attendants were not there to defuse the situation it would have been a physical altercation – it was a near physical altercation with very heavy verbal abuse from Roddick directed at Djokovic – I would guess there has been a slight softening of the incident by Roddick who probably does not want the public to know how enraged he was that night – remember the feud first started at Ashe Kids day when Roddick was playing Djokovic in a tiebreaker with earphones on and Roddick hit a drop shot which a smiling Djokovic retrieved and then suddenly shockingly Roddick unleashed a huge forehand at Djokovic – I saw this on TV and it was shocking – Djokovic glared at Roddick and said “So this is how you want to play Andy?” – Obviously Andy hated Djokovic for all the mocking imitations (which he did Roddick in an effeminate way) and suspicions that Djokovic was faking his injuries –

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 9, 2016 at 8:31 am

    Thanks mat4 – I have seen Amanovic around Djokovic for most of his career and spoke briefly with him at Viami two years ago before the Nadal final practice – must be a loyal good friend of Djokovic who has an important role with the team –

  • Mat4 · June 9, 2016 at 9:14 am

    Indeed he seems to be. He even chose Novak to be a witness at this wedding, although I don’t know if Novak is now the godfather of his family, which would be a great honor for both.

    Novak, on the other side, is very loyal to his team, and I recently heard how some of them were remunerated — he pays quite well (Vajda is paid 20-25K a month + bonuses; compare it with the case of Ana Ivanovic who fired Nemanja Kontic — who was making 5 times less than Vajda — to avoid to pay him a bonus for returning in the top ten; it can be easily checked). And, as we can see, he didn’t change his team since 2010, only adding Boris.

    But the core of his team remain Vajda (the mastermind; Vajda proposed adding Boris Becker to the team, although I believed initially it was Pilic), Amanovic and Phil-Gritsch.

  • Michael · June 9, 2016 at 7:03 pm

    Scoop, if you don’t give up the source then your account has to rest on its own and it’s too incredible. And now mat4 has cited aome actual eyewitness account which is at odds with your story.

    Amanovic “Far from it that there was physical contact, as he described it somewhere, that he pressed Novak on the cabinet. I was there, they had a brief verbal discussion and that’s alL.”

    So I’m sticking with its BS. People like to tell tales. It makes them seem important or interesting: :

    “Roddick high fived me during the Match !” See how cool that makes me. (Of course, I have photographic evidence. :-;

    “I was there when Roddick brought Djokovic to tears. You should have been there !”

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 9, 2016 at 8:20 pm

    michael you should understand why amanovic would want to downplay the situation with roddick – also to save the face of his humiliated employer – I have zero doubt my source is 100 percent honest – he has no reason to lie and he’s told me a ton of tales about situations he witnessed inside that locker room and never once did anything turn out to be false – the other source on the Kei story was a Japanese journalist who also has no reason to lie and who my judgement also tells me is 100 percent honest – Trust my judgement michael –

  • Michael · June 10, 2016 at 3:14 am

    Sorry, Scoop, I simply can’t rely on double hearsay for such a wild tale.

    The tale is still interesting but remains apocryphal.

    I saw Djoker do the Roddick imitation in 2007 in front of a small crowd on Armstrong and thought it was a good one.

    Speaking of hearsay, if you are a tennis writer you owe it to yourself to read the Sharapova decision in its entirety and don’t rely on second hand accounts. Some of those accounts I’ve seen including at certain “premier” tennis websites are not great. Ignore her press release spin and read it yourself.

  • Mat4 · June 10, 2016 at 4:30 am

    @Scoop:

    While I believe you version of the story, take in account a few things:

    — it happened in the US; I’ve seen in France one of my American students verbally abused by a few hooligans. He was big, strong, and a judo practitioner — he could have easily beat them, but he didn’t dare to do so, because he didn’t know what would the consequences be;

    — Djokovic was a young boy, then, and I don’t think he had one fight in his youth;

    — neither has probably Roddick; I would like to know if he had tried to do such thing on Safin;

    — the evening was very stressful for Novak: he was mocked, and the booed by the public; in the semi, he was a shade of himself; he was probably shocked by what was happening, not knowing how to react;

    — while he said it in a funny manner, it seems that Roddick definitely had a thought or two about Amanovic that evening. By the nature of my job I have met these kind of guy, and Roddick was right to be cautious.

  • Harold · June 10, 2016 at 9:54 am

    This is the most in-depth psychological dissertation on hearsay in history.

  • Mat4 · June 10, 2016 at 10:08 am

    @Harold:

    It’s not hearsay. I watched Roddick speaking himself about that incident. I read what Amanovic said about it. I have seen the Roddick press conference, the QF match, Novak’s interview after the match, the semi. That there was an argument, there is no doubt about it. Scoop has a first hand witness.

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