Novak Djokovic

[Partizan]

What a fantastic year he's had! Only the sixth player in Open Era tennis to win 3 Grand Slam titles in one year (Australia, Wimbledon, US opens).

He has won 10 titles including Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Montreal, Belgrade and also defeated the king of clay in Roma and Madrid. In fact, with his latest US Open victory, he is 6-0 facing Nadal this year (all in finals) and has now stretched the gap to 4100 pts in the ATP rankings from him.

Even more astonishing is that he has a 64-2 record and thus his winning percentage this season so far is the best one in Open Era history (96.9%). I wonder if he'll be bale to keep this up for longer and it'll be interesting how he defends those points next year. The only career grand slam title he's yet to conquer is Roland Garros and no doubt he'll be setting his sights on that.

 

[Partizan]

This is an interesting article:

Is Novak Djokovic's 2011 season the best ever? Let's look at the facts...

After capturing the US Open, Novak Djokovic became only the sixth player in the Open Era (since 1968) to win at least three Grand Slams in one season.

The world No.1 has now won 64 matches this year and only lost two, bagging 10 titles in the process, a feat that obliged John McEnroe - who went 82-3 in 1984 - to describe Djokovic’s smashing 2011 as “the greatest year in the history of our sport.”

But is Djokovic’s 2011 season the best any tennis player has ever had? There’s more than one way to look at it, and it depends on what exactly defines a best single season in tennis.

Some value the success at the four Grand Slams more than anything else, hence why world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki gets so much flak having failed in her quest thus far to land a major.

Others see winning percentage as the way to go in judging the perfect season, while the rest view someone like Guillermo Vilas who accumulated 16 titles in one year back in 1977, to be quite the hero.
So how does Djokovic’s year measure up in these three categories?

Winners of at least three Grand Slams in one season (Open Era)
Novak Djokovic - 2011

The Serb added three Grand Slam titles to the sole one he had prior to this season and in those three Majors he only beat top-four opponents in all of the finals (No4 Andy Murray in Australia, No1 Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon, No2 Nadal in New York).
He also got past Roger Federer – a player who is widely considered to be the greatest of all-time – in the semi-finals of both the Australian and the US Open. His semi-final loss to Federer in the French Open is the only bolt in an otherwise picture perfect year.

Rafael Nadal – 2010
The Spaniard won his 7th, 8th and 9th Major titles in a phenomenal 2010 where he trumped No.7 Robin Soderling in straights in the final of Roland Garros, gave Tomas Berdych a similar beat down in the Wimbledon final before completing a career Grand Slam in the US Open beating Djokovic in four sets.

Roger Federer – 2004, 2006, 2007
Federer grabbed three Slams in one year in three different seasons – a surreal achievement by any standards. In 2004 he beat Marat Safin (No.86, as he was returning from injury), Andy Roddick (No.2) and Lleyton Hewitt (served up two bagel sets to the No.5) in Australia, Wimbledon and New York respectively in his first season as world No.1. He capped it all by winning the Masters Cup.

2006 is definitely the Swiss’ most striking season where he finished 92-5, won the same trio of Slams (beat Baghdatis, Nadal, Roddick in the three finals) and made the final in Roland Garros where he lost to Nadal. He went on to win 12 titles that season.

In 2007 Federer did the almost impossible task of defending all three Major titles (beat Fernando Gonzalez, Nadal, Djokovic in the finals) as well as defending his final showing at Roland Garros. Winning three Slams in the same calendar year is already an impressive feat, but to do it more than once is stunning. Doing it in back-to-back years is just out of this world.

Mats Wilander - 1988
The Swedish star won the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open in 1988. He beat No.2 Stefan Edberg in the semi-finals before battling past No.7 Pat Cash in an epic five-set final in Australia, eased past No.14 Henri Leconte in Paris and won the longest final in US Open history against No1 Ivan Lendl in New York. Wilander is definitely underrated to the younger generation but his ’88 season is a testament to his greatness.

Jimmy Connors – 1974
The American won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open that year but all three of those Majors were played on grass. He didn’t compete at Roland Garros, which means he won every Major he contested the season, but the unified surface definitely helped his chances.

Rod Laver (won all four) – 1969
Laver did something no male tennis player has managed to achieve in the Open Era and that’s winning all four Grand Slams in one calendar year. Actually the Australian did it twice, once in 1962 during the years when tennis was still amateur, and once in 1969, one year after tennis turned professional.

It must be noted though that like Connors, Laver won his Majors when they were only played on two surfaces, clay for Roland Garros and grass for the other three.

Since the ATP was founded three years after Laver’s calendar Grand Slam feat, records of his exact wins are not easy to find but it is believed that he has a combined record of 18 titles won across the three tennis tours at the time, NTL, WCT and Grand Prix in 1969.

Winning Percentage
Djokovic’s season is not over yet and the 24-year-old is due to play this weekend in the Davis Cup before heading to Beijing next month. But so far his winning percentage is the highest of the Open Era where his 64-2 record earned him an astounding 96.97 per cent record.
McEnroe’s 1984 season is second closely behind Djokovic with 96.47 per cent so the Serb has to do exceptionally well in his remaining matches to keep his record at top spot.

Number of titles per season
Guillermo Vilas leads this category with 16 ATP titles in 1977 including the French Open, but 13 of those titles were on clay - the Argentine’s favourite surface.

Ivan Lendl won 15 titles in 1982, however five of those wins were in tournaments that only had four rounds where he occasionally had a bye in his first match.

Federer’s 12 titles in 2006 is only the seventh best in ATP history and while Djokovic currently has 10, he still has a chance to eclipse the Swiss maestro's total.

Verdict
Taking everything into consideration Djokovic’s winning percentage is what sets him apart from everyone else, but we still have to see how he is going to end his remarkable season.

While his Grand Slam performances have been stellar, he does have a bit of a competition for the Best Grand Slam season from the likes of Laver and Federer. Federer is most impressive because while he won three Slams in a season like Djokovic, he also made the final of Roland Garros, Djokovic just made the semis. So if we’re talking about Grand Slam success, Federer still has the slight edge.

He still can add to the ten titles he’s captured so far and if he indeed does keep on winning, then I believe the real achievement here is that Djokovic has been dominating in both Grand Slams and on Tour, he hasn’t been losing hence the insane winning percentage and he’s doing it in an Era that features the best the game has ever seen.

If he surpasses Federer’s 12 titles per season and keeps his losses as low as they are right now, then I believe in three months time we can safely say that Djokovic’s 2011 is the best isolated season in tennis history. Right now, he’s a close second!

http://www.sport360.com/article/novak-djokovics-2011-season-best-ever-lets-look-facts

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Amazing season, amazing player, but he has a little way to go yet before it is the best season of all time. In 2006 Federer won 95 matches which is simply amazing in terms of physical strength on top of playing excellent tennis. If Djokovic has a poor week or struggles with an injury and loses a match or two before the end of the season then he'll have to rack up another 30 wins before the end of the season to even match the winning percentage.

Having said that, if he wins the two remaining Masters titles, the Tour Championships and they retain the Davis Cup it is going to be hard to argue against it being the best year of all time. Still plenty of tennis to be played and won for that to happen though.

 

[tobi]

I'm not sure of the right word to describe him but I love it, the game needs more characters like him and Tsonga (?) and less arrogant folk like Serena.

 

[spurs mental]

How many times does he have to bounce the damb ball before serving. So slow and annoying. Great season but so annoying.