Tennis 2011 - The year 2 became 3 and 4 became 3

Well well well. Another season nearly at an end. All roads are leading to London and what we are seeing now is another player on the path to greatness. It really is a case of when. I am not calling him a great....yet. I have no doubt he will add to his tally of 4 Slams in the bag. Yes I am talking of one Novak Djokovic. This time last year he suffered a 4 set defeat to Nadal who with his US Open victory cemented his place with the all time greats in the game. Novak went to London with half a heart it has to be said. One eye on the Davis Cup Final against France. A chance at history. A chance at national pride. A chance to take his beloved Serbia into history. Novak was eliminated from the WTF by a certain Federer who went on to win the event. Djokovic and Serbia went on to win the Davis Cup. It was history. I don't think anyone was able to foresee just what a knock effect it would have in the career of Djokovic. An undefeated streak that would last nearly 6 months. 3 Masters Titles and Slam later and Djokovic was the talk of the world. Could anyone beat this man? The French Open was the tournament he would leave a mark, make a statement. Then an inspired Federer ended the streak and all was assumed that Djokovic would fall away after such a defeat. He then went on to win Wimbledon and end Nadal's attempt at dominance on the green stuff. Then the Hardcourt season commenced and after a month of poor tennis and injury concerns, again Djokovic looked vulnerable. Scares against Dolgopolov and Tipsarevic almost made Federer and Nadal favourites ahead of him. Facing 2 match points. Deja Vu against the great man himself. First serve in, a swing, whack, 1 MP saved and then by now you can guess the rest is history. Djokovic went on to conquer New York.

Rafael Nadal. Where does he fit into all of this? After last years success the talk was it was only a matter of time before he caught up with Federer on the Slam's tally. An unbeaten Clay Season, The Career Grand Slam complete. The Golden one I might add. The world was his for the taking. A slump in form and Djokovic being his bogeyman, the stuff of nightmares was pulling his season apart. Like he has done to Federer so many times in the past, the hunter became the hunted. Nadal does however have the French Open in his bag. Set a record at Monte Carlo for 7 staight titles. He now does have questions about his form and not his fitness for once. There is now a question mark over his form and future success. He need look no further than Roger Federer. 2008 he appeared to be going in to New York and his grasp on the Slams slipping. He went there and racked up a 5th consecutive US Open Title. In 2009 Federer went on to complete his Career Grand Slam and set the record for the Grand Slam haul in the Mens Game. He also regained his number 1 ranking too. So all is not lost if he can recapture his form of 2010.

Monsieur Federer. The Greatest. The Master. All mentioned by fans and journalists alike. A slamless year for the first time since 2002. Count it. 8 seasons of Slam success. That is dominance. That is for the rest of the field to catch up with. 1 Slam final appearence this year where he was defeated once again by his nemesis Nadal. He ended the streak, which pretty much over-shadowed what could've been achieved in the final. He really is in the limbo at the moment. No Masters 1000 victories to his name this year. No final appearences either. He now must be considering looking at Sampras and Agassi to see how they managed Slam success in their 30's and how best he can increase the longevity in his career without impacting on his game and form. He will continue to be a threat at the Slams even into the latter stages and I can see him winning another Slam. He isn't an outsider looking to crash the party of 2 as he is the party!! A defence of his WTF crown might give him the confidence to win another Slam.

Andy Murray. The lone glimmer of light for British tennis. Another year. A good year in some respects. A much improved Clay Season. Another 3 set defeat in a Grand Slam Final and reaching all 4 Grand Slam Semi Finals in the same year. Joined the elites in that lone stat. Lack of a coach. The early part of the year saw him nearly fall out of the top 4 with defeats to Donald Young and Alex Bogomolov Jr after his AO Final defeat. Clay saw him rejuvinate his game and nearly end the streak before Federer and almost end Nadal's grip on the Monte Carlo title. He reached the Semi's of the French Open to lose to Nadal in straight sets. The grass saw him win a 2nd Queens title and at Wimbledon in the Semi Final against Nadal looked like going to the final. A missed Forehand and the rest is history. A Cincinatti title and his favourite Slam the US Open saw optimism for a Maiden Slam. Some poor performances and another Semi Final encounter with Nadal ended that hope. Murray is pretty safe at number 4 in the world. Only a matter of time before the rest of the field start to catch up. Will he win a Slam? Who knows. It is looking even more unlikely given how Djokovic has risen to the top of the world and the gulf in class between him and Nadal and Federer. I will continue to support the man and hope he becomes a GS Champion so that 3 will become 4.

Great post legend!

Andy Murray - best year ever in slams, 3 semis and a final, and yet the win looks further away than ever in some respects.

He needs someone in his corner who believes passionately in Andy's natural game and helps him to hone that, and to give him the tools to have a steelier attitude from the start of the match.

I am a great supporter of Andy but I am now totally hacked off with watching him behave like a sullen teenager on court - it's not that he is discourteous to his opponent, his on court etiquette is wonderful in that respect - it is the fact that he is needlessly sapping his energy and his fighting strength with this lack of discipline. He is clearly a very disciplined person with his training and his practice, so, if he wants to, he is clearly able to discipline himself to have a much better 'poker face' on court. it seems churlish to gripe when he has given Britain such a stake and excitement in the major championships, but it is soooo frustrating to see him unable or unwilling to conquer the negativity on court - have we just all put him under too, too much pressure?

Hi TP,

Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated as ever.

I do agree. If you could quantify energy you could see that he probably uses and consumes more than anyone else. He does always seem to be at war with himself on the court. Like you say if he could just ignore those distractions. Accept he is likely to make errors in a match and that he is even more likely make great shots too, he may find a balance that helps bring his game together in big match situations.

Some were calling it 'cyborg tennis' from Novak while others were looking for excuses at his use of MTO in the 4th set, well if the MTO is available and you've been playing for 3 tough hours why wouldn't you use it if it can prevent cramp?? Nadal did say he would have to do something different in this match... but I didn't see the difference in his game from any other match in this tournament, for an unknown reason he can't serve the ball as huge as before, he's overly enamoured by the use of spin..

have we just all put him under too, too much pressure?

Do you think Spain hasn't put Nadal under any pressure... or have Serbia refused to mention Djokovic's name in the media?? It's a very poor excuse to have when you're competing for yourself, not in a team game..

fair point JM, but I do think the British Press are particular hysterical - Djokovic and Federer have both talked separately about how much pressure Murray is put under and how he actually handles that intensity pretty well.

legendkillar when posters like myself "have a go" at Murray it certainly isn't because we think we could better but more in frustration at his obvious limitations.

It may be rasher simplistic but Novak talks about his turning point loss to Nadal at the 2010 US Open. He decided to be more aggressive and really take the game to Rafa - the results were all too clear for all to see last night.

Murray has the game and the talent to win a slam. Has he got the mindset? Not yet, at least, anyway.

NB,

Some posters are fair and impartial in their criticism of Murray. That tends to be the Murray fans in general and sometimes generic tennis fans. I don't mind criticism, but then sometimes it stretches a bit too far and clearly goes beyond tennis.

For example with the sweatband incident. The umpire was fine and as was Nadal. Yet there seemed room for people to lambast him for it. Why? What was the point?

When he has a paddy on the court, if he is in a losing situation it is not so bad because sometimes he can draw a higher level out of his reserves. When he does it when he is command of a match or still in the match it becomes frustrating because there is no room for it and it is not going to get that big extra out of him. That is when he needs to leave that in the locker and just let his 'skills' break through in situations like that.

legendkillar wrote:NB,

Some posters are fair and impartial in their criticism of Murray. That tends to be the Murray fans in general and sometimes generic tennis fans. I don't mind criticism, but then sometimes it stretches a bit too far and clearly goes beyond tennis.

For example with the sweatband incident. The umpire was fine and as was Nadal. Yet there seemed room for people to lambast him for it. Why? What was the point?

When he has a paddy on the court, if he is in a losing situation it is not so bad because sometimes he can draw a higher level out of his reserves. When he does it when he is command of a match or still in the match it becomes frustrating because there is no room for it and it is not going to get that big extra out of him. That is when he needs to leave that in the locker and just let his 'skills' break through in situations like that.

The sweatband incident doesn't even warrant a response.

This was the article written by Hawkeye? aka VMP from 606, who just loved Andy!!!, she could probably conjure up an article about his dog if it was wearing a collar with a colour she didn't like

I have stopped responding to these "rubbish" articles/posts and would suggest you do likewise.

Murray is fantastic player but has had problems solving the riddle of Nadal.

Federer is a fantastic player but has had problems solving the riddle of Nadal.

Nadal is a fantastic player but has had problems solving the riddle of Djokovic in 2011.

Djokovic, seems to have solved both the riddles of Nadal and Federer.

The Fantastic Four of Tennis.

Where have you been laverfan?

Are you a man or a woman Laverfan? Are you even human?

laverfan wrote:Murray is fantastic player but has had problems solving the riddle of Nadal.

Federer is a fantastic player but has had problems solving the riddle of Nadal.

Nadal is a fantastic player but has had problems solving the riddle of Djokovic in 2011.

Djokovic, seems to have solved both the riddles of Nadal and Federer.

The Fantastic Four of Tennis.

In fairness, Djokovic has had to wait until Federers latter years to solve him, and he remains the one opponent who Djokovic approaches the court with some trepidation against.

Welcome back LF

Murray is fantastic player but has had problems solving the riddle of Nadal.

He doesn't naturally have problems with Nadal, he has problems with confidence and playing the right shots... it's not as if Murray has ever been playing his best level of tennis when losing to Nadal.. whereas Nadal plays his highest level and still loses to Novak, this comparison hasn't gone done well with moi