MurraysWorld  >  Tennis Talk  >  Novak Djokovic
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 5 ... 36 Reply

Novak Djokovic

Quote

How many more will he get? He could quite possibly get so many more.
[ Last edit by laundry January 27, 2013, 05:03 pm ] IP Logged
Quote

I don't think he'll win more than 2. Nadal is bound to win 1 more. That is, if he comes back at all. Federer's luck will have to depend on the draws. He now has one too many enemies to deal with. A retirement will be on the cards but he'll be keen on a finish like Sampras'. Whether he will have a shot at that or not is up for speculations.
IP Logged
Quote

Nole could get ten, easy. But I keep having this nagging thought: is this era really that special or is it a case of there being only four good players? It's chicken and egg.
IP Logged
Quote

I fully believe it's special. Just the play on court, the sheer consistency, it really is just remarkable. As an amateur tennis player myself it just boggles the mind how these guys do what they do.

I guess we'll see when the next generations come up, but I don't see them playing to the same level that our top 4 have been doing. With every sport the standard of play nearly always increases from generation to generation, and daring to say that it will dip going into the next generation in tennis would be credit enough to what's being achieved right now.
[ Last edit by laundry January 27, 2013, 08:12 pm ] IP Logged
Quote

Nole could get ten, easy. But I keep having this nagging thought: is this era really that special or is it a case of there being only four good players? It's chicken and egg.
Was the Noughties a weak era or was Federer just special?

You could go around in circles.

I think it's the former though.
IP Logged
Quote

Nole could get ten, easy. But I keep having this nagging thought: is this era really that special or is it a case of there being only four good players? It's chicken and egg.

I believe players like Tsonga, Berdych, and Delpotro would have won each a slam or two in another era. They are just as good if not better than some of the players Fed faced in slam finals (e.g., Baggy,  Gonzalez, Phillipoussus, etc).

Roddick, who Fed beat in slam finals how many times (?!), has only a 6-5 lead over Berdych, and Delpo is 4-1 over Roddick.

Berdych has beaten Fed on grass and hard.
Delpo has beaten Fed on hard
Tsonga has beaten Fed on grass and hard

They are all explosive, offensive players who have the qualities to win a slam.

The problem is they can't get through 2 or sometimes 3 of the top guys.

Take Berdych: he beat Nole and then Fed to reach the Wimbledon final in 2010 but then just couldn't take out Rafa too. Or at USO - he took out Fed and took Murray to 5 sets.

There are NOT only 4 good players imo. There are 4 all time greats. And then a lot of other very good players!

Another change has been the technology and physicality of the modern game which means it takes longer for younguns to break through (Tomic,Dimitrov, etc). Plus, I do tend to think some of these younguns are a bit spoiled, need to work harder and need to round out their games.

----------------------

I think the 90s-early 2000s had some strong players, but not with the all round games we see at the top now. Thus Fed, with his all-court game, was able to dominate before the rise of Rafa and then Nole and Muzza. Fed's obviously an amazing player, but I do tend to think the guys playing now are of a higher caliber than some in the late 90s-early-mid 2000s. And it seems a lot of greats agree.For example Roddick was a great competitor, but all serve and forehand: weak backhand, weak volley, not-so-great movement. Hewitt was tenacious, a great mover and return - not so great serve. Davy, great ground stokes, weak mentally and poor serve. Sampras was fading more or less when Fed was rising. Safin had an amazing game but was a total headcase. Baggy had potential but not a good work ethic. Agassi rose up and gave a nice effort to reach number 1 and play on into 2006. And so on.
[ Last edit by janetx January 27, 2013, 11:56 pm ] IP Logged
Quote

At the end of this video, Lendl talks about how much more "depth" there is in the field now compared to when HE was playing, which confirms my thinking that this is a special era.

IP Logged
Quote

Which makes you think more about the likes of Tsonga, Soderling, Ferrer and Berdych who, had they been five years younger, would probably have a few slams to their name. Instead (although I guess there's still plenty of time for them yet), they'll probably be mostly forgotten and certainly not known to younger people getting into the sport. They won't even be up there as 'best player never to win a slam' because they've only ever made one final each (bar Ferrer), only have one Masters each and none have ever ranked higher than 4 in the world.

Del Potro for now is a one-slam wonder, although I think he will win more in the future. He's still only 24, and when he's at his peak in 3-4 years time, you'd have thought Federer and Nadal would no longer be on the scene (although I guess you never know).

Murray was always 'greatest player never to win a Slam', and now he's a 'one slam wonder' (if he retired with just the one slam). Hopefully he'll win at least a couple more slams to make his mark. If he could tally over eight he'll go down as one of the greats in one of, if not the greatest era ever. At the moment, whilst he's finally won a slam, he's still got that pressure of 'only' having the one. I think once he gets his 2nd things will get easier again, and maybe one day he'll get into a final where he goes in as favourite against someone less experienced than him. That's the situation Djokovic is in now, although Murray is now somewhat of a veteran in slam finals, even if he has only won one of them. I look forward to that day.

Lots of hypothesizing there and thinking way too far ahead, but it's quite interesting.
[ Last edit by TheMadHatter January 27, 2013, 11:58 pm ] IP Logged
Quote

Which makes you think more about the likes of Tsonga, Soderling, Ferrer and Berdych who, had they been five years younger, would probably have a few slams to their name. Instead (although I guess there's still plenty of time for them yet), they'll probably be mostly forgotten and certainly not known to younger people getting into the sport. They won't even be up there as 'best player never to win a slam' because they've only ever made one final each (bar Ferrer), only have one Masters each and none have ever ranked higher than 4 in the world.

Del Potro for now is a one-slam wonder, although I think he will win more in the future. He's still only 24, and when he's at his peak in 3-4 years time, you'd have thought Federer and Nadal would no longer be on the scene (although I guess you never know).

Murray was always 'greatest player never to win a Slam', and now he's a 'one slam wonder' (if he retired with just the one slam). Hopefully he'll win at least a couple more slams to make his mark. If he could tally over eight he'll go down as one of the greats in one of, if not the greatest era ever. At the moment, whilst he's finally won a slam, he's still got that pressure of 'only' having the one. I think once he gets his 2nd things will get easier again, and maybe one day he'll get into a final where he goes in as favourite against someone less experienced than him. That's the situation Djokovic is in now, although Murray is now somewhat of a veteran in slam finals, even if he has only won one of them. I look forward to that day.

Lots of hypothesizing there and thinking way too far ahead, but it's quite interesting.

Murray could go down as 'best player to have won only one slam'. Certainly, his record in terms of slam finals (six) and Masters titles puts him way above Roddick or even Hewitt and Safin (who won two).

That's where he stands at the mo.
IP Logged
Quote

Nah, Andy'll get more than one.
One of these soon days his beautiful game will click in a final, hopefully Wimbledon 2013, and no-one would be able to beat him.
Think Nole could end up ahead of Rafa though. I tip him for RG. His movement on clay is second only to Rafa and his "tennis age" is far, far younger.
[ Last edit by blueberryhill January 28, 2013, 07:42 am ] IP Logged
Quote

What a strange statement 'Andy will go down as the greatest player to only win one slam.'  Not long ago he was' the greatest player to never win a slam.'  He was not himself yesterday.  Tired and injured whatever anyone says.   He will know this and so does Nole.  Federe himself not long ago said that it was much easier for him when he first went to the the top.
[ Last edit by tamila January 28, 2013, 08:03 am ] IP Logged
Quote

What a strange statement 'Andy will go down as the greatest player to only win one slam.'  Not long ago he was' the greatest player to never win a slam.'  He was not himself yesterday.  Tired and injured whatever anyone says.   He will know this and so does Nole.  Federe himself not long ago said that it was much easier for him when he first went to the the top.
'Could'.

As it stands. Right now. No-one's saying anything about yesterday or doubting his ability to win more slams.
IP Logged
Quote

Nah, Andy'll get more than one.
One of these soon days his beautiful game will click in a final, hopefully Wimbledon 2013, and no-one would be able to beat him.
Think Nole could end up ahead of Rafa though. I tip him for RG. His movement on clay is second only to Rafa and his "tennis age" is far, far younger.
If Novak does manage to usurp Rafa soon, he will be well on his way to catching Federer's record when you consider his ridiculous hard court record - with Andy the only player to stop him since Nadal in 2010.
IP Logged
Quote

Hope he does. That'll shut those awful Fedfans up thumb up
IP Logged
Quote

I think with Djokovic, as with all of them, it's hard to tell. I could see him catching Nadal's current tally, but not, to be honest, Federer's, but who knows.

I think the next few years could be very interesting. I could well imagine Andy and Djokovic sharing the slams between them. I'm tempted to say something sarcastic about the Williams sisters, but it wouldn't be appropriate, so I won't Whistle. Seriously though, I don't see anything stopping Andy and Novak completely dominating.

I know I'm tempting fate, but I really don't see Federer winning any more now. I honestly think it's getting harder for him to recover from back to back long matches, but also, the younger guys, Andy, Djokovic, etc, are on to him, although at present Andy has a better record over Federer than Djokovic. Wonder why that is?

It will be interesting to see how Nadal goes when he does come back. If he recovers well, I think he could win a couple more FO's, but I do think he'll struggle on the hard courts with his knees. I'm in two minds about Wimbly, but I don't know, I think Nadal's most natural game is on the clay, although he can obviously play on all surfaces. The problem for Nadal, as I see it, is that the game has moved on without him. Of course he can get back, but Djokovic had made his move before Nadal was injured, and Andy has come on in leaps and bounds while Nadal has been out. I don't think either one will be pushed around by Nadal now.

The interesting thing will be to see who comes through if and when Federer and Nadal go, or at least are no longer considered contenders for the slams. To be honest it's tough to see any of them doing it, assuming Djokovic and Andy remain at the top and are as dominant as it seems as if they could be. I think Ferrer is too old now, although in another era I think he could have won at least one. Berdych could have in another era, but he doesn't seem consistent enough in this one. Tsonga could be interesting to watch over the next couple of years, but whilst he could threaten, I don't see him challenging really. I think Djokovic would be too strong for him consistently, and he seems frightened to death of Andy's game. I can't say I blame him. Delpo could threaten too, but I don't think he moves as well as either Djokovic or Andy. I think he's a good mover, but not as quick, or as light on his feet, as Andy and Djokovic.

It will be interesting to see which youngsters come through over the next year or two. I don't think it will get any easier for any of them.

IP Logged
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 5 ... 36 Reply