Djokovic won again but....

I was very surprised by how difficult made that AO look. Remember when he started his few rounds with minimum loss of games and collection of bagels? Then he gets trapped into Hewitt fight, followed by Ferrer's in the 1/4F where one feels Ferrer with a bit of nerves could have won that one in 3. Of course the Murray match was even closer but only felt that way cause Djoko did not seem 100% and made a few easy mistakes at key points. Guess what? same story for the final. Nadal wins narowly a first and fourth set but frankly, he could have been a 3 setter if not a 4 setter.

In view of this I am not so sure he will sail this year to 4 slams as some suggested. If he has to struggle so much to win a slam at his peak, he is not going to last that long. The question is, is that due to a temporary niggling injury or is he simply the 2010 Djokovicwho was very good but just got a tiny bit better? I don;t often say that but his 2011 AO performance was more impressive than thi slast one.

Tenez the tour is going to work in the off season to lift their level. Murray and Nadal have spent all off season think of ways and wrinkles to disrupt Djoko. Plus lets remember he basically had a lot of late season injuries last year that I am sure disrupted his basic training schedule. The thing that impressed me with federer was that he was able to maintain such a large gap with his contemporaries for so long. Novak will need to keep adding to his game if he wants to maintain the gap. Also lets remember the season is very young, I don't think he is going to win all 4 slams I think last year was his best chance. But I think he is a going to get 2 or 3 and that is plenty good enough.

Looked like Djokovic wasn't going to give everything to win that opening set, he was clearly thinking long term. He will play even better on clay than he does on HC without question. Watch out again Naddy.

So he had to struggle to win this one?

Consider the following:

he had a poor year end masters following the US Open and hadn't played much coming into the Aussie Open - was it one or two exhibition matches?

Murray posed much more of as threat than in the previous AO final meeting and would doutless have been just as or even more problematic for Rafa or Roger.

Rafa played as aggressively as possible against Novak both serving harder and going for more winners. Novak had to be tired going into that match from his previous five setter with Andy yet somehow battle through the six hour marathon to become victorious.

No slam is ever easy and this was no exception but it's difficult to think of anyone (unless there is an absolutely inspired performance by one of the other top 4) who can beat him currently in the slams on any surface. Only injury or exhaustion from an ongoing effort to secure all the slams would seem to be the main threat to him at the moment.

But he started very easy and was the most impressive player (score wise) until Hewitt got a few games off him. That's inconsistency which I did not expect after the first few rounds.

yes he won it at the end but it doesn;t look like he is going to dominate like last year.

So the fact that not everyone rolled over for him makes him less likely to dominate than last year?

I'm not so sure as Nadal must be fed up with the sight of him, Andy still isn't tough enough to beat him when it counts and Federer can't win even when he has match points.

Hewitt got a nice gift set when Djokovic lost his concentration. Didn't see a whole lot more charity in his other matches though and wouldn't expect any in the next few slams either.

What if he finds himself in the same half as RF. it is not impossible.

I don't think he will have the 10 hour back to back matches left in his locker. He probably played the equivalent of 2 Masters events from the second round in 3 days.

I can't see him winning both the French Open and Wimbledon. It would be one or the other. If players like Federer and Murray show the same inconsistency in the US Open this year like last year, I can't see them getting close.

Take into account the Olympics, makes you wonder what he prioritises this year.

My point was that if he wants to dominate like he did in 11, he'd need to to start winning more easily. Having tough matches like that right at the beginning might take its toll, soon.

Well after the US Open all sorts of stuff got attributed to tht final. His late tournament was much bigger.

Tenez wrote:My point was that if he wants to dominate like he did in 11, he'd need to to start winning more easily. Having tough matches like that right at the beginning might take its toll, soon.

"Worry" not, Tenez....Nole wil be fine.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:My point was that if he wants to dominate like he did in 11, he'd need to to start winning more easily. Having tough matches like that right at the beginning might take its toll, soon.

"Worry" not, Tenez....Nole wil be fine.

Djoko is our life assurance versus Nadal....So I sincerely worry NITB!

Djoko is loved by God, let us believe in him!

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:My point was that if he wants to dominate like he did in 11, he'd need to to start winning more easily. Having tough matches like that right at the beginning might take its toll, soon.

"Worry" not, Tenez....Nole wil be fine.

Djoko is our life assurance versus Nadal....So I sincerely worry NITB!

Worry NOT!!!

paulcz wrote:Djoko is loved by God, let us believe in him!

The creepiest thing saw at the AO final was a piece of "artwork" by some Djokovic fans. It was done in the style of a stain glass window and depicted an angel (gold garments, feather wings, halo etc) perched above Djokovic as he held the AO trophy.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:My point was that if he wants to dominate like he did in 11, he'd need to to start winning more easily. Having tough matches like that right at the beginning might take its toll, soon.

"Worry" not, Tenez....Nole wil be fine.

Djoko is our life assurance versus Nadal....So I sincerely worry NITB!

Worry NOT!!!

All right then...

Tenez is correct about one thing. Novak is the best at playing long points and using his speed, fitness, and clean strokes. But he needs to continue as his career moves along to work on shortening points and getting free points. He stands pretty tight to the baseline and goes up the lines about as well if not better than anyone, and he has improved his volleys a great deal enough to be able to use it as effective variation. He has to keep working on his getting some free points on serve without radically tweeking his service motion and has to keep working on his volleys.

I do agree that Nole didn't look at his best for virtually the entire second week. I think there were two main factors behind this:

1) His first serve vanished for sets at a time. I don't know if this is a technical problem or a relic of his injury but it is a worry.

2) Hayfever. This probably wasn't as big a deal as his demeanor suggested at times but if you can't breathe as well as normal, that is going to affect a style of play like Nole's. It might only drop your performance by a couple of percent but against players like Nadal and Murray that couple of percent could be critical.

I think there is a lot of encouragement to be taken from this tournament though. I think most would agree that Nole was not at his best and that Murray and Nadal produced something like their best form. But they still couldn't beat him!

I agree HMM. On one hand, the fact he managed to win without being 100% is scary for the opposition, on the other should he have to keep battling like that, it's going to be tough to reproduce last year's success.

That's right. He is still mentally very tough, but at last year's AO he beat first Fed and then Murray both in straight sets, whereas now he needed two gruelling 5 setters.

On the other hand, he will be much more focused on the Slams this year, and may take it easy in the Masters events between the AO and the French.

Tenez, I think the key question is the one you raise earlier. Is the current form a slight underperformance or is it a return to 'normal' after an amazing sequence? Was 2011 a permanent step forward or will it prove to be the high tide of his form?

My feeling is is that his 2011 form can be repeated. Not necessarily in terms of results (although I live in hope!) but in terms of quality. Whenever Nole found himself under real pressure this tournament (5th sets v Murray and Nadal), he found his very best tennis. So I think 2011 standard is still there - he just needs to stop putting himself in situations that demand it so frequently!

I think we need to take into account that he didn't play very much at the end of last year and had some injury problems at the tail end of last year that probably impacted some of his preperation. Plus all the expectation and playing two opponents who worked hard in the off season to beat your game, and like Tenez said in one way it is even scarier for the opposition if Novak is able to win slams while still not at his or near his peak.

He may not have played his best but he played pretty damn well. I think his 1st serve was the problem area but thankfully his 2nd serve improved. I think his standard is still exceptionally high and this win will most importantly of all give him further confidence beating a couple of his big rivals in a slam when it mattered

I am very proud of Nole.
He has done exceptionally well in Melbourne this year.

He played the final in very difficult conditions for him (very high temperature, pollen) after minimal time for physical recovery from another physically very demanding match.

I have no concern over his performances for the rest of the year. He has actually filled out at the top a bit more now, which is very good and important for him, as it's there that's he was lagging behind with the competition, and it's due to his relatively weaker top part of the body that the injury happened there last year.

Scary for his opponent, but Nole still has of room for improvement and is working on his overall performance.

Nole takes his number one position very seriously and has high ambitions for 2012.

Don't the coming best of 3 Masters tournaments look like a walk in the park now after the 2 5 setters in AO...

Some good points Nitb, he does look bigger and more ripped in the upper body, he used to be kind of scrawny up top even last year. A stronger back, arms, and shoulders will help him last and will also give him some pop on his serve and strokes.

Nole is really a phenomena of tennis this time. I had a feeling in both his last matches in AO, that he plays as much what he needs, just to enjoy the game.
That I felt mostly in 4th set with Nadal in the final. He had the game in his hands and could finish it. It was as if he wanted play for the audience. I have never seen it, it is unbelievable, really a great player!

Well what do ya expect? Djokovic has always been thought to have more talent on the court than Nadal seen as early as 2007 hardcourt season..

Did anyone else notice the white marks Djokovic had on his body towards the end of last year? It seemed to be some sort of reaction but seems to have cleared up now

I think his win at AO proved how unbeatable he actually is right now
Nadal and Murray have come back to throw everything but the kitchen sink at him but still couldnt take him down even when many think he wasn't playing to his full potential.
One can only imagine how much confidence this gives him for the rest of the season,just look at how he was playing...dropping his level when he felt like it and then raising it again when he really needed to..pretty risky against players like Murray and Nadal,or even Hewitt for that matter but still didn't seem to phase him at all
Playing with that kind of confidence makes a player very very dangerous,his mental fortitude is phenomenal,especially considering the joking always retiring player he once was

CAS wrote:Did anyone else notice the white marks Djokovic had on his body towards the end of last year? It seemed to be some sort of reaction but seems to have cleared up now

Yes, I saw some pictures...not sure what it was.