But I have no doubt Tsonga has picked up a legion of new fans lately. He's great for the game.
Djokovic: New #1
- Thread starter David Jimerson
- Start date
Barry_Green
Moderator
First new #1 (meaning, non-Nadal and non-Federer) since ... get this ... Andy Roddick, in 2004. Since Roddick, only Federer and Nadal have held the #1 rank.
Congrats to Djokovic. Richly deserved, too. Any time you start a season going 4-0 against Nadal, 3-1 against Federer, and 2-0 against Murray, that's gonna pay off sooner or later.
Interesting matchup against Nadal. Djok's beaten him four times in a row, but never beaten him on grass (but, then again, he'd never beaten him on clay either, until this year, and he did it twice, for Masters 1000 titles too). Djokovic hasn't looked quite as unbeatable as he did during The Streak. Nadal should be ready -- he's got to be reeling from four losses in a row, including two straight-set pastings on clay. Surely he will be at the top of his game.
Congrats to Djokovic. Richly deserved, too. Any time you start a season going 4-0 against Nadal, 3-1 against Federer, and 2-0 against Murray, that's gonna pay off sooner or later.
Interesting matchup against Nadal. Djok's beaten him four times in a row, but never beaten him on grass (but, then again, he'd never beaten him on clay either, until this year, and he did it twice, for Masters 1000 titles too). Djokovic hasn't looked quite as unbeatable as he did during The Streak. Nadal should be ready -- he's got to be reeling from four losses in a row, including two straight-set pastings on clay. Surely he will be at the top of his game.
We were doing auditions for the Sound DVD when I said I thought Djokovic would be the next Federer. Well, he stumbled along the way and of course ran into a brick wall named Nadal, but he seems to be showing that could do it now.
Gotta wonder, though, about getting to it kind of late. Most on the way to dominance get started at more like 21 or 22; Djoko is 24.
Gotta wonder, though, about getting to it kind of late. Most on the way to dominance get started at more like 21 or 22; Djoko is 24.
Man, that was a symphony of slop coming off Maria's racquet.
Barry_Green
Moderator
Her movement was awful. She is famous for saying that she hates clay because she feels like "a cow on ice", and she looked like it today. Big surprise too, I don't think anyone really expected this outcome.
Whew. No disputing the #1 now. Good show! And as a bonus, the match isn't going to take up my entire day for once. 
She also doesn't have many shots. Don't remember seeing a slice, drop shot or non swinging volley from her. Just flat power shots. Incredibly limited.
Barry_Green
Moderator
Wow, Djokovic was unfathomably awesome in the first two sets. Turned into a bit of a nailbiter there in the third, but then he finished it strongly.
I do think we're in the middle of watching something akin to the greatest run in the sport in history. If he hadn't lost that one match to Federer, we'd be looking at a serious, serious run at the calendar grand slam. Federer had three bites at that apple and didn't get it done. If Djok could have beaten Federer in the French semis, I think the odds of him winning the French were very, very good -- he'd already beaten Nadal twice on clay, handily -- and could probably have done it again. And he'd obviously be a strong favorite for the US Open title too... alas, he didn't win that French semi...
I don't know how to verify, but I think the best year ever was Federer's 2006, at a total of 92-5, with a record 12 titles. Djokovic in 2011 is, what, 48-1, with 8 titles already? Seems like it's possible we might see the best year in history...
And, yeah, the women's game -- I said it was gonna be wildly unpredictable, but I never would have thought we'd see Kvitova manhandle Sharapova like that, on this stage. The women's game is just completely unpredictable at this point.
I do think we're in the middle of watching something akin to the greatest run in the sport in history. If he hadn't lost that one match to Federer, we'd be looking at a serious, serious run at the calendar grand slam. Federer had three bites at that apple and didn't get it done. If Djok could have beaten Federer in the French semis, I think the odds of him winning the French were very, very good -- he'd already beaten Nadal twice on clay, handily -- and could probably have done it again. And he'd obviously be a strong favorite for the US Open title too... alas, he didn't win that French semi...
I don't know how to verify, but I think the best year ever was Federer's 2006, at a total of 92-5, with a record 12 titles. Djokovic in 2011 is, what, 48-1, with 8 titles already? Seems like it's possible we might see the best year in history...
And, yeah, the women's game -- I said it was gonna be wildly unpredictable, but I never would have thought we'd see Kvitova manhandle Sharapova like that, on this stage. The women's game is just completely unpredictable at this point.
It was all in the feet. You can have great hands, as they both do, but you have to get there to use them, and the Djoker was just lightning-fast. It was astonishing. I guess the gluten-free diet really WAS the difference . . .