Mr Djokovic Finishing Strong

We've known for a long time what a danger Novak Djokovic is to his fellow players. After all, he has beaten all the top players, has several masters titles, and has won the Australian Open. While he's won more matches than anyone else this year the world seemed to focus more on Federer and Nadal (and even Murray) since January. Now that the year is winding down, the marathon man Djokovic seems stronger than ever while Federer is distracted and Nadal is struggling for form.

For most of the year some speculated that the controversial racquet change Djokovic made was affecting his game too much. For me, his forehand was clearly off and he was struggling for confidence. All of a sudden, none of that seems to be an issue. Over the past few weeks in Basel and Paris Novak has been striking his forehand as well as I have ever seen. Unlike Federer, Djokovic doesn't often spray this shot into the stands. And unlike Nadal, Djokovic can penetrate through the court quite easily. Both Roger and Rafa displayed their greatest weaknesses to Novak as they fell tamely over the recent weeks to the Serbian.

If the world number 1 and number 2 can't regroup and get these weaknesses under control again, the rock solid Djokovic will be standing there ready to knock them down. Novak in my mind is the big favorite going into the year end championships in London. Nadal showed yet again that no matter how badly he is getting his butt kicked he will not change his game drastically enough to throw he defeater off course. Roger just seems incredibly unfocused to me. Granted he has a good reason (the new kids) but if he seriously wants to be a contender for several more years he will have to find a better balance. Murray's tame game won't work well on an fast indoor surface against the elite players in the world. He is still far too defensive in his play.

Now there are other players who will be in London, but all things considered at the moment Novak Djokovic is the strongest force in tennis.

Del Potro's Doomsday

Tennis, like most sports, is a continually evolving game. Wilander ruined serve and volley with his consistency and mental brilliance. The power of Lendl and Sampras took it from there. Hewitt's neutralizing counterpunching grabbed the reigns after that. Then came Roger, the all around expert. It took a special breed of super strong, super fast competitors a la Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray to steal some of the limelight. But even they are having trouble wrangling the crown from the almighty Federer. Perhaps their evolution isn't quite drastic enough.

Enter Juan Martin Del Potro.

At a towering 6'6", he is the tallest man to ever win a grand slam. That is saying a lot considering his style of play. Think tall champions of the past. Goran had arguably the best serve in the game of tennis. Unfortunately his inability to support that weapon with anything else kept him from winning more than a single major. Safin was the closest thing we had to the next step. Fortunately for today's champions, Marat's mental instability has extinguished the bright flame of potential he once had. Del Potro could easily outshine them both.

Juan Martin is rare breed that combines agility, consistency, and tactics with his extreme size and power. In my eyes, his greatest strength is hitting giant winners from further back more consistently than anyone else so far. It allows him to go from defense (which he is surprisingly skilled at) to offense on a whim without even changing court positioning. He's having his cake and eating it too. While this is a huge asset, he's shown its not what he relies on all of the time. Against Rafael Nadal in the semis of the US Open, Del Potro stood firm on the baseline and took Nadal's high bouncing-spin on the rise like it was nothing. That takes serious timing. And oh yeah - he can crack his serve over 140mph. Something tells me he will improve this number as well. We may soon see the first man in history to hit over 160mph.

If Juan Martin Del Potro continues to improve he could very well put an end to the Roger-Rafa battle for number one by simply stepping over both of them like a bouncer breaking up a bar fight.

Quiet Class triumphs over Angry Arrogance

I always thought the Kim Clijsters vs Serena Williams match would be an entertaining one, but this one was unforgettable. Kim kept her head down and played an extremely mature match while Serena struggled against someone who could match her own level. Having smashed a racquet in the first set Williams had earned a warning. As per the official rules, any subsequent warning would result in a single point penalty. Unfortunately, Serena could not contain her anger after a 2nd serve foot fault was called on her to make the score 15-40 in the 12 game of the second set. Once she berated the line judge, the tournament supervisor had no choice but to give another warning which garnered a point penalty giving the match to Clijsters.

Now Williams has never really been one to give her opponents or fellow players much credit or praise. Earlier this year she was very vocal in her disagreement over Safina's ranking and she very seldom blames a loss on anything other than shoddy play.

This may sound harsh toward Serena, but you have to consider everything. From time to time everyone can lose their cool and to be honest Serena only let slip out her mouth what I'm sure tons of players have thought to themselves before. The tragedy came as a result of a compounding effect afterwards. Instead of owning up to her bad choice Serena made no attempt to reconcile or even acknowledge much wrongdoing in the press conference after the match. Perhaps in a day or two Williams will issue an apology. But until then, these two instances of bad behavior show very little class. It may be cliche, but someone think of the children! As a multiple slam winner and hall of fame player literally millions of children look up to Serena. Hopefully she will come to her senses in a few days so that the little ones who idolize her don't learn that just because you are the best does not mean you are allowed to 'shove f*cking balls' down anyone's 'f*cking throat.'

Winning by not losing

Let me start by saying that Andy Murray is a great tennis player. He's a brilliant tactician and a hard worker. Everything he has earned up to this point has been a result of his great drive to improve, and now he is climbing to the very top of the game. But all of that won't keep me from falling asleep every time I sit down to watch one of his matches.

Now I realize it is a bit ridiculous and selfish of me to criticize a tennis player for not being entertaining. The only reason I feel strong enough to blog about it is because I feel it isn't the greatest thing for the sport overall. This is a man who is challenging for number one by playing passive, slow paced, consistent rally tennis. His main strategy is to make his opponent lose in a flurry of unforced errors. We've seen this before - Lleyton Hewitt played a very similar type of game when he was #1 several years ago. The difference was personality. Hewitt was a feisty competitor who really had to pour himself all over the court in order to fend off the big hitters of his day. By contrast Murray has a sort of sleepy type of game combined with a fairly negative attitude. These factors don't garner him tons of fans outside of the UK.

With Federer and Nadal slowly playing back into form I hope to see them contending for the bigger titles again. All due respect to Murray, but I just want to be excited to watch tennis on the weekend again!

Unbreakable

These days the Wimbledon final seems to be inevitably entertaining. While the Roland Garros final was slightly exciting this year as we were holding our breaths to see if Roger could win the elusive slam, the action itself turned out to be quite disappointing. Sunday's Wimbledon final was sheer excitement from beginning to end.

Roddick came into the match with a losing record of 2-18 against Roger Federer. Under normal circumstances many people would have written him off. I definitely would have. But his recent performance against Hewitt and Murray suggested he was reaching another level. On top of that, Roddick's last few encounters with the Swiss were quite close.

I have always been perplexed over the curious fact that Federer out-aced Roddick in their matches. Sunday I realized why. Federer can get away with putting in a second serve. His ground game is superior so he has the option of going for aces on every first serve. Roddick on the other hand, can't afford to show Federer a second ball. He NEEDS a high first serve percentage. That he had - something near 80%. He wasn't always going for aces, but Roger still could not get his returns in play. Unlike in the past, Federer could not read the Roddick delivery. It took Roger 5 sets and over 4 hours to break Andy's serve - and his heart (sorry I just had to :))

Now to get a bit technical. Roddick did hit his groundstrokes well during the fortnight. But I still find his ground game the most technically immature of the top 10. The once fearsome forehand of 2003 has now become a jerky windshield wiper stroke. In order to produce a more penetrating ball, he has to produce far more racquet head speed than in the past. As a result, the consistency of his flat stroke has fallen dramatically as well as his accuracy. He also has to get properly set up and 'charge' the stroke which makes his defensive forehand particularly weak. Roger on the other hand has a forehand that is technically perfect as far as I am concerned. His swingpath is extremely versatile. As a result he can vary his spin-to-speed ratio extremely easily. He can also hit with variety from any position, as Nadal can do, and therefore defend extremely well. Similar principles apply on the backhand. Roddick will always have one of the best serves in the game. But he may never have as good a chance as he just had at Wimbledon.

The Wardrobe of a Champion?

Walking onto court with his new jacket and vest this year made me cringe. To compound the problem, a coincidental NetJets commercial starring the Swiss aired moments before. Lets put aside the fact that his outfit and purse look a bit ridiculous. Roger Federer, being a role model to millions of children, should watch after his image and take care not to disconnect himself with this snobbish look. Obviously he is wealthy beyond most people's wildest imagination. Just ask Mirka - it looks like she dunked her hands in a bowl of glue, then a bowl of jewels. All I ask is to tone it down a bit. Show some humility and class. We know he's a classy player and person, so why not portray this externally? Put down the matching purse and vest and throw on a Roger Federer Foundation t-shirt!

Wimbledon Preview

With Nadal unable to defend his cherished title the door was left wide open for Federer to claim number 15 with relative ease. For so long the grass courts have belonged to one man - Roger Federer. Then Nadal came along and eventually prevailed. But even then, it took the best match in tennis history for Rafa to overcome the reigning champ. So even though Federer is having one of his less successful years, he will not be so easily pushed aside on his favorite court.

I personally doubt Federer will have any trouble winning this year. He's now a veteran of grass and has more experience than anyone else in the draw on this surface. Consider that this is his best tournament and realize that he is to Wimbledon what Nadal is to Roland Garros. So who out there can top him besides his greatest rival? Here are a few challengers and my take on them -

Andy Murray -

All eyes are on him this year. Even if he wasn't playing for the home team, he does have a winning record against Roger and one of the best return games on tour. He's been to a slam final and won a few masters titles, so the only variables are his temper and the pressure of the press. He will be under the microscope as his the official favorite for many. I pick him to make the final, but also pick Federer to make mincemeat of him when he gets there.

Novak Djokovic -

He's been to the semis in 2007 and the finals of Queens in 2008. With few weaknesses and incredible defensive skills this guy is a contender wherever he goes. Remember he has a grand slam and Murray does no so experience should be no factor. Unfortunately his lackluster performance at Roland Garros is a worrisome variable. If he's feeling good I see him as the #3 favorite for the title in my mind.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga -

One of the most aggressive players on tour is sure to love the grass courts of London. He's only played Wimbledon once (l. to Gasquet) but did not fail to impress. Shorter rallies mean he'll have to hit less backhands which I'm sure he wont mind, and his soft hands will create more than a few unreachable drop volleys. Big serve + big groundstrokes always equal success on this surface but he's also got a far better than average forecourt game. My dark horse pick.

Andy Roddick -

Sorry Roddick fans, but this guy is outdated. After years of trying to improve his game he's got little to show for it. His massive serve keeps him floating in the top 10, but his backhand is still one of the weakest in the top 50 and he's lost a lot of zest from his forehand since 03-04. He is now hitting far less winners (almost always less than his opponent) and is still hitting questionable approach shots. He'll probably cruise through a few rounds, but as soon as he faces a quality player I don't see him lasting long.

Juan Martin Del Potro -

While he is shaping up to be a legitimate challenger for major titles, I just don't see him doing well this year. He's obviously quite tall but unfortunately he doesn't play like Goran Ivanisevic. He likes to stay at the baseline so the low bounce won't favor his game. For a 6'6" man, his serve is still not where it should be.

Fernando Gonzalez -

My sleeper pick for Roland Garros will be riding a wave of confidence as he moves onto the grass. His slice will stay low and his fierce forehand translates to any surface. His relatively weak returns won't make things easy for him but he can counteract this with his ability to end a point from any spot on the court.