Across The Net: And Then There Were Three …. Novak Djokovic Serves Notice in Montreal
Posted by ikabod Crane on 08.13.2007
Federer-Nadal…Nadal-Federer has been the story in men’s tennis since June 2005. A 20 Year Old Serbian Just Shook-Up the Plot in Men’s Tennis.
Prelude to Montreal 2007
2003 was a year of changes in men's tennis. Andre Agassi looked as dominant as ever winning the 2003 Australian Open in January, but new names kept popping up. Juan Carlos Ferrero finally took home the French Open, Roger Federer thrilled fans with a Wimbledon title run, Andy Roddick built on his semifinal showings at Wimbledon and the Australian Open and took home the U.S. Open by defeating Ferrero in the final. Federer then swept to the Masters Cup crown and by the end of 2003 a new crew was on top of the sport.
In 2004, Roger Federer won 3 of 4 Grand Slams and dominated the tour leaving Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt behind as serious threats. In 2005, Federer won two more Grand Slams, 4 masters series titles and was clearly #1. However, in June 2005 Rafael Nadal took his first French Open title and won 4 masters series titles himself. Tennis had a clear cut #1 and a clear cut #2. 2006 proceeded along similar lines. Federer won 3 Grand Slams, Nadal won the French Open and little breathing room was left for any other player hoping to be among the elite of the elite.
In early 2007, Novak Djokovic began to make some noise. Despite losing in straight sets to Nadal in the final, the young Serbian looked solid in being the runner-up at Masters Series Indian Wells. Two weeks later, Djokovic avenged his loss to Nadal and took home Masters Series Miami in impressive fashion. Djokovic reached the French Open semifinals losing to the master of clay. He then reached the semifinals at Wimbledon where a rain soaked second week and a bad foot caused him to default in the 3rd set vs. Nadal. Djokovic appeared to be playing better than Roddick, Davydenko or any other contender for the #3 ranking, but one had to wonder how his hard court summer would progress.
Winning Montreal in Style
Novak Djokovic won a round of 16 match vs. former top 5 player David Nalbandian. This was a solid win, but one he was expected to win. Next up for Djokovic was Andy Roddick. The Andy Roddick who has won the past two U.S. Open series. The Andy Roddick who replaced Djokovic as #3 in the world this week after winning in Washington, DC last week. On paper, I figured Djokovic was a slight favorite, but playing a more experienced player on his favorite surface put most of the intangibles in Roddick's column. Djokovic beat (then) world #3 Andy Roddick 7-6, 6-4. A big win that cemented Djokovic's status of being better than Roddick and Davydenko on most days and most surfaces.
The next hurdle was Rafael Nadal. Djokovic had split two hard court meetings with the raging bull earlier this year and lost both 2007 meetings on clay as well as their lone meeting on grass. Djokovic and Nadal blasted ground strokes at one another, but the Serbian played better when either leading or trailing by a break point. He defeated the world #2 7-5, 6-3.
The final hurdle was Roger Federer. As mentally tough as Nadal is and as many wins as Roddick has on North American hard courts, Roger has all of those qualities combined on this surface. Federer had yet to drop a set this week. Djokovic turned that statistic around winning the first set 7-6, 7-2 in a tiebreaker. Federer righted himself and broke Djokovic twice to win the second set 6-2. This is the place where many players vs. Roger wilt. Djokovic instead grabbed an early break lead in the 3rd set. Federer, champion that he is, broke back at 3-4 to level the final set. Surely, the 20 year old is going to buckle now, right? Wrong. Djokovic twice absorbed runs by Federer and won the final set 7-6, again 7-2 in the tie breaker.
3 Way Power Struggle
To defeat the world #3, world #2 and world #1 in succession is an amazing feat. Now, Djokovic has confirmed what many suspected. He is the clear #3 player in the world. He has also not attained this ranking by winning a lot of events like Washington, DC. Instead, he has two Masters Series shields, two Grand Slam semifinal appearances and a Masters Series runner-up to his name. At 20 he is almost 6 years younger than Federer and is heir to his title as best fast court player in the world. Djokovic is only 1 year younger than Nadal, but Rafa has two stress fractures under his belt and a lot more mileage at this point than does Novak. While it is reasonable to assume Nadal will sooner or later assume the #1 ranking, Djokovic may be tennis' next long standing #1 player. It is at least a question open for debate now.
The First Time You See Greatness
I can remember seeing six players for the first time and thinking WOW. The first was watching Boris Becker defeat Kevin Curran in the 1985 Wimbledon championship. In the quarter and semifinals, Curran overpowered and dismantled John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. In the championship match, a 17 year old red headed kid was diving all over the place and overpowering Curran who had just overpowered the best in the world. In 1989, I saw Pete Sampras defeat defending champion Mats Wilander in the second round of the U.S. Open. Wilander never recaptured his 1988 form, but I remember thinking this kid has got something. I never dreamed that meant Sampras would win 14 majors, but I did think he was awfully impressive. At Wimbledon 1990, Goran Ivanesevic blew my mind with the power he was producing in his semifinal run. I can recall seeing Marat Safin defeat Andre Agassi and Gustavo Kuerten at the 1998 French Open and believing the big Russian had a very bright future ahead of himself. I had heard a lot about Roger Federer, but in 2001 I watched Roger Federer for the first time in his quarterfinal French Open loss to Alex Corretja. I recall thinking Federer was the smoothest player I had ever seen. One month later Federer defeated Sampras at Wimbledon in an upset I picked when filling out my bracket. In 2007, I finally got to see Novak Djokovic play an entire match at Miami and thought this guy has the goods to be awesome.
I do not want to overstate what Djokovic did this week. Winning successive matches vs. the top three players in the world and taking a Master Series title is a big deal. Still, it is not winning a Grand Slam. Goran Ivanesevic and Marat Safin maybe failed to live up to that first WOW reaction I had. Sampras and Federer each exceeded the expectations I had when I first saw them. Becker winning 6 slams seemed about right. Djokovic could do any of the above. He has been the best player on North American hard courts this year. Winning the 2007 U.S. Open would certainly go a long way toward confirming the potential everyone sees in him. Some have written me saying I am a Federer apologist. I do not think that is it at all. I am partial toward revolutionizing the sport and seeing greatness. Federer and Nadal have both done that. As a tennis fan, I am happy to see a third guy emerge with that potential as well.
