it's such a load of rubbish that nole developed superpowers in 2011.
nole beat roddick,rafa,fed in succession in 2007, and played several 4-5 set matches back to back at wimbledon and the us open that year. in fact the match he won in round one versus steps was one of the longest ever. he reached the us open final anyhow that year.
in 2008, nole won a slam, a couple masters and wtf
in 2009, he pushed rafa to the limit on clay - he also hired a new trainer (muster's ex-trainer) to improve his strength and stamina in the middle of 2009
the serious problems came in 2009-2010 when he changed his racquet and hired todd martin, who did things like make him serve on his knees in practice! 2009 was awful, but things started to turn around the time of wimbledon in 2010; and he reached the us open final and won davis cup that fall - so there was already signs that things were on the upswing.
but even in tough times he reached the us open semis - for 7 years straight. and even when he was double fault king in 2009-2010 he remained #3 (he held that ranking for longest ever in the open era, behind fedal) before he broke through! so obviously he was already an excellent player.
indeed, i'd argue that all the problems he had with his serve actually helped him become the returner he is today because he had to rely on his return to stay in matches for a while there!
but clearing up the breathing difficulties etc, which came about when he went gluten free, allowed him to play more freely. he also received the kind of mental boost he needed from winning davis cup and from the meditation techniques he learned from his doctor, which he talks about in his book, and which kevin mitchell quoted in the guardian:
"I used to freeze up whenever I made a mistake; I was sure that I wasn't in the same league as the Federers and the Andy Murrays. Now, when I blow a serve or shank a backhand, I still get those flashes of self-doubt but I know how to handle them: I acknowledge the negative thoughts and let them slide by, focusing on the moment. That mindfulness helps me process pain and emotions. It lets me focus on what's really important. It helps me turn down the volume in my brain. Imagine how handy that is for me in the middle of a grand slam championship match."
source:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/sep/06/novak-djokovic-us-open-wawrinkait's clear nole used to panic in matches. it's also clear he had breathing issues.
but even then he played and won a number of long and rigorous matches. people forget this. people want to say he completely transformed in 2011. but it's not true. it was always there. he just needed to fix a few things.
same with andy. and then lendl helping give him that extra push so he could repeatedly reach slam finals, win gold and a slam back to back, reach ao final, win wimbledon etc...
anyhow, some people will be suspicious no matter what... so probably pointless to write this.
just trying to offer some perspective and history.
