Novak Djokovic: The New Maestro !

Before all Federer fans jump at my throat, have a look at this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh9k5WqxVa4

I would like to believe that most of us here are foremost tennis fans and as such are delighted to have the opportunity to witness an accomplished tennis prodigy, someone special:

Novak Djokovic is playing champion's tennis this year: very pleasing attacking , aggressive style full of flair and deft touch. His forehand is a weapon, and his backhand a thing of exquisite beauty, his return is his opponents' nightmare, and his serve a reliable tool which enables him to play confidently.

Novak IS a Djoker and an entertainer in his heart, so he uses every opportunity to thrill the crowd, I particularly enjoyed his match against Tsonga at Wimbledon this year: both had their hearts in the right place!

What's there not to like?

I gather that there are a lot of hard-core fans of other players around the world, but surely, when you see somebody else play so well (and we may not have such a talented generation for a long time), you have to pause and admire and enjoy their tennis.

Journalists around the world however are still late and begrudgingly recognising and praising the talent and game of Novak Djokovic.

Why? I have a few ideas, but won't go into them, as this is not about them: they are paid to write...

For me personally, the most astounding fact is that both journalists and fans (not all) still think that Novak Djokovic is a fluke, an impostor who is depriving tennis world Nadal and Federer slam finals .

The guy has won 48 matches and lost only one this year (and all things being equal, will continue his stellar season in similar fashion), something neither Federer or Nadal have ever achieved, and yet, that kind of doesn't register, as if all Novak Djokovic has done this year is a very bad dream we all need to wake up from.

Why? Here, too I have a few ideas, but I'd let you answer the question....

People with real tennis knowledge know that Djokovic is no fluke. Nitb, Novak has really played at an incredible level this year and in my mind I see him growing with each and every tournament. I think he actually has a lot of areas that he can get a little sharper at and improve. Some intense Roger or Rafa fans may not give him his due but that really is inconsequential to me. We have to not worry about them and enjoy the amazing things that he is accomplishing right now.

Loved those drop shots, he has to be the best drop shotter in the world right now has really taken it to an artform. His volleys have really impressed me this year as well. Can't wait to see how much more he can add to his arsenal because I think he will keep getting better over the course of the next year or two.

Socal,
I'm not worried whether or not people like Novak, it's more a wake up call for those who are missing a golden opportunity to enjoy his tennis, blinded by the fan blinkers.

Federer has gone on my nerves so many times for various reasons, but I never let that get in the way of my enjoying his exquisite brand of tennis.

I haven't heard anyone say he's fluking things.

bogbrush wrote:I haven't heard anyone say he's fluking things.

well, it's all this, How long is he going to last etc. king of style digs that basically mean the same.

Who made this clip? Talk about over sentimentalized!

'Nole The Chosen One'?

It's hardly the coming of the messiah, get a grip!

Only from you NITB, so maybe it can be excused!

I've said Djokovic will be No.1 for at least a year and will certainly win more slams so I am not dismissing him. Still think this video is over the top with the music and captions.

I don't know who made the clip, I only watched the tennis in it....

noleisthebest - Exactly what it says on the tin!

The thing is I've always liked Djokovic and for a long time thought he was a great player (even last year!). He has had a fantastic start to 2011. But there are other great players too. The big picture hasn't changed. Over the top (blind?) worship of any player is crazy.

I don't think Nitb is being over the top. I have seen way more over the top Rafa and Roger fans. Nitb often comments and posts on issues that are not directly related to Novak. I am a Djokovic fan but consistently I post about the sport as a whole. I think Nitb is correct, there is a dismissive attitude among tennis fans and media in regards to Djokovic. Especially, from Federer fans frankly. Federer fans to a degree, not all of them some are really cool, at least the extremists among them feel this need to demean players coming after Roger federer in a manner that as if Federer is bigger than the game. So I think if anyone can be tarred with that brush it is the extremist Fed fan. Bogbrush don't act all innocent in this you are one of the chief instigators of this dismissive attitude towards Novak and his accomplishments.

Well socal, I'm a Federer fan and that's not true of me, can't say I've encountered a dismissive attitude from that many Federer fans, maybe a couple but that's probably the extent of it from what I can see.

I was talking about the video, not NITB, if you watch it and as I quoted socal, it says 'the chosen one' (throughout the clip) that most certainly is over the top, regardless of who you support in tennis, not helped, may I add, by the over sentimentalized music! Watch the video, maybe it's self evident why it's got less than a 1, 000 hits.

I watched it lucius, it has some great shots, it is obviously done by a djokovic fan and geared towards Djokovic fans. I wasn't in fact think of you in the least when I made that comment, I was thinking of people like Bogbrush,Tenez, and GP frankly. Bogbrush in particular seems to love raining on the Djokovic parade. Tenez keeps making statements how in two years there will be ten players playing like Djokovic and he won't be winning as much. Everytime Novak accomplishes something they come out with a bunch of Federer statstics about Roger to prove how much Roger is better than everyone all the time. I don't even argue with them, Roger is goat now can we acknowledge that the other top guys deserve some credit?

Well sorry socal if I don't subscribe to hysteria for the 3-Slam winning 24 year old #1, but I don't call him a fluke or anything.

He's clearly the best player right now and he'll notch up a year or two there, and I have the same regard for him as other similar #1s. He's basically this periods Leyton Hewitt.

"The chosen one". "The new maestro". Makes a different storyline to the "over the hill" number three and the "he is better than me" number two. Doesn't stop the the number three beating the new maestro in their last match and the number two picking up his tenth slam title a few weeks ago.

Some Djokovic fans need to calm down a bit and take a reality check.

That I know the only player who has been unanimously considered “the Maestro” is Roger Federer, as recognition for having achieved near perfection in every aspect of the game. Two others come to mind: Borg and Lendl. To call Maestro someone who has achieved, in comparison, so little as Djokovic , is more than a bit hilarious.

hawkeye wrote:Some Djokovic fans need to calm down a bit and take a reality check.

No, surely part of the joy of being a fan of a winning player is going a little bit crazy with over-excitement. He's playing great tennis, it's great to watch, he's winning, why not let the fans get carried away?

His tennis is clean and nice and efficient, but somehow doesn't provide much of a spectacle, lacking either the extraordinary explosiveness of a Nadal or the otherworldly perfection of Federer.

His talent is his movement, flexibility and shot selection, it's bread and butter stuff done very well. Doesn't make the greatest of show-reels IMO.

Is this the same guy that couldn't buy a serve for love or money this time last year

Federer is the maestro, Nadal is. . . isn't really the matador any more, he's a beast of some variety, Delpo is the caveman. Murray is, erm, lacking in character, and Djokovic is probably spiderman, i.e. the skinny one who moves a bit quicker than the others.

Nitb and Socal, how confident are you that Novak will win this year's USO? He has exceeded expectations throughout the year - call me names but I still doubt his ability to win even more than Murray in the American swing.

This is certainly notches below the expectations from Fed during 2004-07 when everyone seemed dead-sure of him winning 3 slams and reaching the finals of the 4th. Leave aside panache (which should be a factor in calling anyone 'maestro'), it will be ages till anybody starts even expecting that sort of results from Novak. I wont call his run this year a fluke but certainly he came back from lost cases in couple of matches like against Nadal in Miami and Murray on clay - he is playing on confidence rather than plainly being better than the rest in shotmaking. I, for one, surely see an end to this outrageous streak sooner rather than later.

I dont know if I am the only one but seems to me that Del Potro, Murray, Federer all have the game to match-up and even beat Novak on US hard courts. I still dont have enough trust in his game to even think that he would better the win-loss of McEnroe 84 or Fed 05 and 06 - so yes, am still not convinced and yes, he has only won 3 not 13 slams!

Fedex_the_best wrote:Nitb and Socal, how confident are you that Novak will win this year's USO? He has exceeded expectations throughout the year - call me names but I still doubt his ability to win even more than Murray in the American swing.

This is certainly notches below the expectations from Fed during 2004-07 when everyone seemed dead-sure of him winning 3 slams and reaching the finals of the 4th. Leave aside panache (which should be a factor in calling anyone 'maestro'), it will be ages till anybody starts even expecting that sort of results from Novak. I wont call his run this year a fluke but certainly he came back from lost cases in couple of matches like against Nadal in Miami and Murray on clay - he is playing on confidence rather than plainly being better than the rest in shotmaking. I, for one, surely see an end to this outrageous streak sooner rather than later.

I dont know if I am the only one but seems to me that Del Potro, Murray, Federer all have the game to match-up and even beat Novak on US hard courts. I still dont have enough trust in his game to even think that he would better the win-loss of McEnroe 84 or Fed 05 and 06 - so yes, am still not convinced and yes, he has only won 3 not 13 slams!

Where is Nadalisthebest to point out that he has the game to not only "match up" but beat Novak on the biggest US hard court?

Fedex, your post is exactly the attitude I am talking about. Novak is the biggest story in tennis right now, he has a right to the attention. Roger got it when he was on top, Nadal got it when he was on top. That is the perk of being #1. Only 3 slams you say, again this sums up the attitude of dismissiveness and negativity that me and Nitb have to deal with constantly. Just rain on the parade, and then continue talking about Roger this and Roger that. You speak about how this is just a streak and how you are not convinced, well that is fine. Again this attitude than unless you have double digit slams you need to check your happiness at your player's success while we crow about Roger attitude is what I find mind numbing.

droogle wrote:His tennis is clean and nice and efficient, but somehow doesn't provide much of a spectacle, lacking either the extraordinary explosiveness of a Nadal or the otherworldly perfection of Federer.

His talent is his movement, flexibility and shot selection, it's bread and butter stuff done very well. Doesn't make the greatest of show-reels IMO.

Have to disagree with you here, his tennis is the things that you have described, yes it is clean and efficient. But I would disagree with you that Djokovic lacks the spectacle in his game. He produce quite a few showreel type shots with the weapons he has in his game:

Backhand: Jaw dropping backhand winners from all sorts of positions on the court

Forehand: One of the few guys on tour that can live with JMDP and Roger in cross court forehand v. forehand exchanges and consistently come out with his fair share or come out on top. His forehand is heavier than Roger's and pacier and deeper than Rafa's. Last two three years he has elevated the forehand to complete mastery of that shot.

Return of serve: Make no mistake about it we are seeing one of the greatest service returners ever in the sport. If you want to see a Maestro at work then look at Novak return serve. He lead the ATP 2010 and is again leading in 2011 with a near 40 percent break percentage. I mean can you even imagine the kind of cat like reflexes and racquet control you have to have to break on the Men's tour 2 out of 5 times?

I am Andy Murrays GREATEST supporter ( as if you didn't know)
but the Djoker is my SECOND most favourite player !!!

I can admire his seemingly effortless tennis of late and admire
him for his attitude towards his new fitness regime ! It is working
wonders as we have asll witnessed .

To each player their own honour I say !

Exactly, Yummy, the man has earned the right to be the biggest tennis story of the year. If Andy goes on a similar run he deserves to have the honors bestowed on him as well. It is as if every single thread about any subject has to always bring us back to an argument about how Roger is better and Roger is this and Roger is that. Let me rain on your parade so we can talk more about Roger's greatness. I hate to inform some people that the game is bigger than Roger Federer, it is bigger than any champion.

socal1976 wrote:
Return of serve: Make no mistake about it we are seeing one of the greatest service returners ever in the sport. If you want to see a Maestro at work then look at Novak return serve. He lead the ATP 2010 and is again leading in 2011 with a near 40 percent break percentage. I mean can you even imagine the kind of cat like reflexes and racquet control you have to have to break on the Men's tour 2 out of 5 times?

I'll agree with you there. But I think that the thing that clinches the deal on the backhand and forehand is his movement and flexibility, the fact that he's always on the ball and grounded. The flexibility in the legs means he can get really low on the ball if necessary which makes his compact backhand much more effective. There's no so much racquet head speed on his forehand, it's not spectacular like federer's which has so much more wrist-snap, or Nadal's obviously.

Droogle, I disagree on Nadal's forehand. Nadal has a great forehand but it is a shot that he mainly tries to control rallies with. Novak hits way more winners than Nadal while still hitting a very safe and heavy spinning ball. Seven months ago I would have agreed with the superiority of the Nadal forehand. However over the last 2 years Novak has tweeked and worked on his forehand a great deal. That shot has just gotten better and better over the last two years and in the last 7 months has really come into full bloom.

Let's face it folks - Novak has been the #1 player this year
as far as the 1st (4) are concerned !

Anyone who argues that he is NOT the rightful #1 atm
is disallusioned. Fed is fading, Nadal is now paying for
all those years of Brawn and Beef. Please Let Andy get
to #2

Andy, in my mind yummy if he gets his head right may be Novak's biggest challenge in the future, I think that at some point Andy will be the next new #1 at some stage in his career. He just needs that one good break at a grandslam to slay the demons so to speak.

socal you can come visit me anytime and lounge on my porch !

(Midges allowing)

I follow Andy like a bad smell but I DO appreciate the finesse
of other players . Sad innit?

Exactly, yummy, i don't see why people have to have this agenda of diminishing everyone else and lifting one player above all the other champions in limelight. I think frankly that hurts the game. Appreciate the invitation, like to see how Andy does at the tail end grandslam at the USO.

socal1976 wrote:Fedex, your post is exactly the attitude I am talking about. Novak is the biggest story in tennis right now, he has a right to the attention. Roger got it when he was on top, Nadal got it when he was on top. That is the perk of being #1. Only 3 slams you say, again this sums up the attitude of dismissiveness and negativity that me and Nitb have to deal with constantly. Just rain on the parade, and then continue talking about Roger this and Roger that. You speak about how this is just a streak and how you are not convinced, well that is fine. Again this attitude than unless you have double digit slams you need to check your happiness at your player's success while we crow about Roger attitude is what I find mind numbing.

bogbrush wrote:Well sorry socal if I don't subscribe to hysteria for the 3-Slam winning 24 year old #1, but I don't call him a fluke or anything.

He's clearly the best player right now and he'll notch up a year or two there, and I have the same regard for him as other similar #1s. He's basically this periods Leyton Hewitt.

You naughty, naughty old maaaan!!!!!
At least you're funny

droogle wrote:Federer is the maestro, Nadal is. . . isn't really the matador any more, he's a beast of some variety, Delpo is the caveman. Murray is, erm, lacking in character, and Djokovic is probably spiderman, i.e. the skinny one who moves a bit quicker than the others.

[quote="Fedex_the_best"]Nitb and Socal, how confident are you that Novak will win this year's USO? "


Actually I was having another article in mind, but will keep it for when the hard court season starts properly in a few weeks.

I reckon Novak is the man to beat, and that's not because I'm biased here.Novak's game IS MADE for hard courts. He is like fish in the water when he's on a hard court.
Djokovic and Federer are simply deadly there because of their attacking style, they pull the trigger AS SOON AS the opportunity shows itself (plus everything else).
I used to savour their USO matches, the quality of shotmaking is out of this world when the two of them play, and because they are so good and so fast but as a result sadly don't get to have the drama and "time" for the all-court game which I miss. That's where Nadal and Murray come in to provide great matches. Novak and Federer need counter-punchers (not saying Nadal is a total counteruncher, but his "moonballing" leaves plenty of time for attacking not only from the base line) to draw the best out of them

Nitb, we don't need to reign in our happiness at Nole's success to please anyone. And if anyone wants to enjoy the tennis with us they welcome to. The world doesn't revolve around roger. Credit to the man he is an amazing champion but he is in the process of riding off into the sunset, enjoy it, but the game is always bigger than any one individual player and not every topic has to be looked at through the perspective of furthering a Federer as GOAT agenda.

socal1976 wrote:Nitb, we don't need to reign in our happiness at Nole's success to please anyone. And if anyone wants to enjoy the tennis with us they welcome to. The world doesn't revolve around roger. Credit to the man he is an amazing champion but he is in the process of riding off into the sunset, enjoy it, but the game is always bigger than any one individual player and not every topic has to be looked at through the perspective of furthering a Federer as GOAT agenda.

I know...It just came to me, this country would've gone BONKERS if Murray won Wimbledon.....even Nadal going on about Nole's coach celebrating Nole's first win over Nadal on clay in Madrid...what's the matter with them all

Anyway Socal, lucky you to be in the same timezone as the tennis caravan for the next two months.....

unfortunately, leaving to go back to middle east in 2 weeks. Not so lucky.

socal1976 wrote:unfortunately, leaving to go back to middle east in 2 weeks. Not so lucky.

Well this Federer fan is really thrilled to see Novak have such a brilliant year. He has been my second favourite player for so long, and I support Andy as well because of patriotism really, but have enjoyed and marvelled at the newly steely Novak. Always knew he had it on his raquet, just wondered last year if he had stopped believing.

Certainly in the era debates, my intention was never to denigrate Novak, Rafa or Andy, but to counter and present an alternative argument to those who have sought to slightly denigrate the 2003-2005 wins of Federer by insisting those years were devoid of the talent of today, and trying to show along with others that you can look at figures and stats several ways.

Graf, why exactly would Novak fans not talk about his recent run of form when he is the big story in tennis? I really don't understand your reasoning. We come on the website to talk tennis and our favorite player is on an epic run, what else would we talk about? I myself do comment and so does Nitb on a variety of topics. I have had up and down arguments with people about Nadal's physicality, and neither federer or Nadal are in my top 5 favorite players.

As for Novak I don't think he needs to win at this rate, he is adding to his laurels everyday. Whatever he wins from here on out is wonderful, but the ride so far has been pretty good.

I have enjoyed every single minute watching him blowing Nadal away, and frankly, he's been the only one to have the gut to do so.

Jeremy_Kyle wrote:I have enjoyed every single minute watching him blowing Nadal away, and frankly, he's been the only one to have the gut to do so.

Rubbish - Stick with your chat show and the other nutters that appear there.

Bye the way its guts not gut

So delusional BOO, hope you'll learn how to enjoy tennis and get over your pathetic bias

This site has a fan section for Novak fans to talk about how he's now going to rule the world only being challenged by Andy Murray (I have my opinions about why Djokovic fans give him this dubious honour.)

If something is written here in the more general section entitled "Novak Djokovic: The New Maestro!". Is it being done to celebrate their hero with other fans or to get a response from others who may not share their exclusive love? Or is it to taunt fans of other players?

I think it's fine for a Nole fan to post that on the main board. The point you correctly make is that by putting it in the main forum you invite disagreement., and it's completely lame for posters (yes, you socal) to whinge about anyone not going along with the hysteria in the general forum.

If you want to post to people who will disgree only if you aren't being enthusiastic enough then post in the private section. Otherwise, dissent is inevitable.

sportslover wrote:

Jeremy_Kyle wrote:I have enjoyed every single minute watching him blowing Nadal away, and frankly, he's been the only one to have the gut to do so.

Rubbish - Stick with your chat show and the other nutters that appear there.

Bye the way its guts not gut

BTW: it's By The Way and not BYE the way

hawkeye wrote:This site has a fan section for Novak fans to talk about how he's now going to rule the world only being challenged by Andy Murray (I have my opinions about why Djokovic fans give him this dubious honour.)

If something is written here in the more general section entitled "Novak Djokovic: The New Maestro!". Is it being done to celebrate their hero with other fans or to get a response from others who may not share their exclusive love? Or is it to taunt fans of other players?

Interesting point hawkeye, I never saw it like that (darn those blinkers )....

Anyway, I'm always interested to see know "others" view Novak's game and gauge where they're at....

Pesonally, I much prefer to see ALL articles on this main board, what's the point of lurking in some "fan corner" tapping each other on the back...


Back to the my main point, wouldn't you agree, that in general, media have been a bit stingy when it comes to giving Novak some proper coverage.

It's not like he's come out of nowhere....I mean, look at tennis coverage in the British media at the moment: ZILCH! Why not write some profile players,analyzing their game etc....

noleisthebest wrote:

hawkeye wrote:This site has a fan section for Novak fans to talk about how he's now going to rule the world only being challenged by Andy Murray (I have my opinions about why Djokovic fans give him this dubious honour.)

If something is written here in the more general section entitled "Novak Djokovic: The New Maestro!". Is it being done to celebrate their hero with other fans or to get a response from others who may not share their exclusive love? Or is it to taunt fans of other players?

Interesting point hawkeye, I never saw it like that (darn those blinkers )....

Anyway, I'm always interested to see know "others" view Novak's game and gauge where they're at....

Pesonally, I much prefer to see ALL articles on this main board, what's the point of lurking in some "fan corner" tapping each other on the back...


Back to the my main point, wouldn't you agree, that in general, media have been a bit stingy when it comes to giving Novak some proper coverage.

It's not like he's come out of nowhere....I mean, look at tennis coverage in the British media at the moment: ZILCH! Why not write some profile players,analyzing their game etc....

Wow! I will take that as a compliment.

If you really want to know what others think of Djokovic... Here goes.

I do agree that Djokovic isn't given the coverage he deserves particularly in this country. Despite being number one many none tennis fans will not recognise him although they will know Nadal, Federer and of course Murray. As I tried to point out I have long been a fan although not exclusively so. He has for a long time had the game to beat anyone on his day. This year it has been his day quite a few times.

These are the bits I know you will disagree with. IMO he is very good but not the best. Not because I don't "like" him because I do but because I think there are two players better.

I'm not keen on the "gloating" behaviour of some of his "fans" although to be fair this sort of thing is not confined to Djokovic's fans.

I really didn't like the celebration after the Madrid final. Not because I disaprove of celebrations even wild celebrations but because of where it was done. Was shocked by the picture Tipsarevic posted on twitter with the gun. Not funny at all.