Today we continue our look at the career of Novak Djokovic...
2009: Ten finals, five titles and emergence of the Big
Four
Djokovic started the year at the Brisbane International,
where he was upset by Ernests Gulbis in the first round. At the Sydney
International, he lost to Jarkko Nieminen in the semifinals. As defending
champion at the Australian Open, Djokovic retired from his quarterfinal match
with former world No. 1 Andy Roddick.
After losing in the semifinals of the Open 13 tournament in
Marseille to Tsonga, Djokovic won the singles title at the Dubai Tennis
Championships, defeating Ferrer to claim his twelfth career title. The
following week, Djokovic was the defending champion at the BNP Paribas Open in
Indian Wells, but lost to Roddick in the quarter-finals. At the Sony Ericsson
Open in Key Biscayne, Djokovic beat Federer in the semi-finals, before losing
to Murray in the final.
Djokovic reached the final of the next ATP World Tour
Masters 1000 event, the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on clay, losing to Nadal in
the final. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, Djokovic failed to
defend the title he had won the previous year, losing in the final.
Djokovic was the top seed at his hometown tournament, the Serbia
Open in Belgrade. He defeated first-time finalist Łukasz Kubot to win his
second title of the year. As third seed at the Madrid Open, Djokovic advanced
to the semi-finals without dropping a set. There, he faced Nadal and lost
despite holding three match points. The match, at 4 hours and 3 minutes, was
the longest three-set singles match on the ATP World Tour in the Open Era. At
the French Open, he lost in the third round to German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Djokovic began his grass court season at the Gerry Weber
Open where, after the withdrawal of Federer, he competed as the top seed. He
advanced to the final, where he lost to German Tommy Haas. Djokovic also lost
to Haas in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.
During the US Open Series, Djokovic made the quarter-finals
of the Rogers Cup in Montreal before losing to Roddick. At the Cincinnati
Masters, Djokovic defeated third-ranked Nadal in the semi-finals before losing
in the final to world No. 1 Federer. At the US Open, Djokovic made the
semifinals, having dropped only two sets, defeating Ivan Ljubičić, 15th seed
Radek Štěpánek and 10th seed Fernando Verdasco before being defeated by
Federer.
At the China Open in Beijing, Djokovic defeated Victor
Hănescu, Viktor Troicki, Verdasco, and Robin Söderling en route to the final,
where he defeated Marin Čilić in straight sets to win his third title of the
year. Djokovic then lost in the semi-finals of the inaugural Shanghai ATP
Masters 1000 to Davydenko. At the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Djokovic defeated Jan
Hernych to make it to the quarter-finals, where he recovered from a deficit to
defeat Wawrinka before going on to win his semi-final against Štěpánek. In the
final, he defeated home favourite and three-time defending champion Federer to
win his fourth title of the year. At the last Masters 1000 event of the year at
the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, Djokovic won his first Masters 1000 title of
the year by defeating Nadal in the semi-finals, before outlasting Gaël Monfils
in the final.
Coming into the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London
as the defending champion, Djokovic defeated Davydenko in his first round-robin
match before losing his second match to Söderling. Despite victory over Nadal
in his third round-robin match, Djokovic failed to make the semi-finals.
Djokovic ended the year as the world No. 3 for the third consecutive year,
having played 97 matches, the most of any player on the ATP World Tour, with a
78–19 win-loss record. In addition to leading the ATP World Tour in match wins,
he reached a career best ten finals, winning five titles. Djokovic also played
a large role in promoting Serbia to the 2009 World Group. On 6–8 March 2010, he
played a key role in bringing Serbia to the World Group quarter-finals for the
first time in its independent history, winning both singles matches in the home
tie against the United States against Sam Querrey and John Isner.
2010: Davis Cup title and US Open runner-up
Djokovic started his year by playing in the AAMI Classic, an
exhibition event. In his first match, he defeated Haas before losing to
Fernando Verdasco in his second. At the 2010 Australian Open, Djokovic lost a
five-setter to Tsonga in the quarter-finals. Despite the loss, he attained a
career-high ranking of world No. 2 and went on to reach the semifinals of the
ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, where he lost to Youzhny. At the
Dubai Tennis Championships, Djokovic reached the final, this time defeating
Youzhny to win his first title of the year.
Djokovic then took part in Serbia's Davis Cup tie against
the United States on clay in Belgrade and helped his country reach its first
quarter-final in the Davis Cup with a 3–2 victory, defeating Querrey and Isner.
At the Indian Wells Masters, Djokovic lost in the fourth round to Ljubičić. At
the Miami Masters, he lost in his opening match to Olivier Rochus. Djokovic
then announced that he had ceased working with Todd Martin as his coach.
In his first clay-court tournament of the year at the
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, top-seeded Djokovic reached the semi-finals with
wins over Wawrinka and David Nalbandian before losing to Verdasco. Djokovic
again lost to Verdasco at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, this time in
the quarter-finals. As the defending champion at his hometown event, the Serbia
Open in Belgrade, he withdrew in the quarter-finals while trailing Filip
Krajinović.
Djokovic entered the French Open seeded third. He defeated
Evgeny Korolev, Kei Nishikori, Victor Hănescu, and Robby Ginepri en route to
the quarter-finals, where he lost to Jürgen Melzer in five sets. Djokovic
entered Wimbledon as the third seed, defeating Rochus, Taylor Dent, Albert
Montañés, Lleyton Hewitt, and Yen-Hsun Lu en route to the semi-finals, which he
lost to Tomáš Berdych in straight sets.
Djokovic then competed at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where
he lost to Federer in the semifinals. Djokovic also competed in doubles with
Nadal in a one-time, high-profile partnership. This had not happened since
1976, when Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe as world No. 1 and No. 2 paired together
as a doubles team. They lost in the first round to Canadians Milos Raonic and
Vasek Pospisil. Djokovic then lost to Roddick in the quarter-finals of the
Cincinnati Masters.
As the third seed at the US Open, Djokovic came very close
to losing in his opening round against Viktor Troicki in extreme heat. He then
defeated Philipp Petzschner, James Blake, Mardy Fish, and number 17 seed Gaël
Monfils, all in straight sets, to reach the US Open semi-finals for the fourth
consecutive year. There, he defeated Federer in five sets after saving two
match points with forehand winners while serving to stay in the match at 4–5 in
the 5th set. It was Djokovic's first victory over Federer at the US Open in
four attempts, and his first victory over Federer in a Major since the 2008
Australian Open. Djokovic went on to lose to Nadal in the final, a match that
saw Nadal complete his career Grand Slam.
After helping Serbia defeat the Czech Republic 3–2 to make
it to the Davis Cup final, Djokovic competed at the China Open as the top seed
and defending champion. He won the title for the second successive year, after
defeating Maoxin Gong, Mardy Fish, Gilles Simon, and John Isner en route to the
final. Djokovic then defeated Ferrer in the final. At the Shanghai Masters, Djokovic
made a semi-final appearance, losing to Federer. Djokovic played his final
tournament of the year at the ATP World Tour Finals in London. Djokovic was
placed in Group A along with Nadal, Berdych, and Roddick. Djokovic won his
first round-robin match against Berdych. He next lost to Nadal. He defeated
Roddick in his final round-robin match and advanced to the semi-finals, where
he lost to Federer in two sets.
Djokovic went on to win his two singles rubbers in Serbia's
Davis Cup finals victory over France. This started a long unbeaten run that
went on into 2011. Djokovic finished the year ranked world No. 3, his fourth
successive finish at this position. He was awarded the title "Serbian
Sportsman of the year" by the Olympic Committee of Serbia and "Serbian
Athlete of the year" by DSL Sport.
Serbia progressed to the Davis Cup final, following the
victories over Croatia and the Czech
Republic . Serbia came from 1–2 down to defeat France in the final tie 3–2 in
Belgrade to win the nation's first Davis Cup Championship. In the final,
Djokovic scored two singles points for Serbia, defeating Gilles Simon and Gaël
Monfils. He was the backbone of the Serbian squad, going 7–0 in singles rubbers
to lead the nation to the title, although the honour of winning the deciding
rubber in the final went to compatriot Viktor Troicki.
2011: Three Majors, five masters & ascent to No. 1
Djokovic won ten tournaments in 2011, and set a new record
for the most prize money won in a single season on the ATP World Tour . Boris
Becker called Djokovic's season "one of the very best years in tennis of
all time," adding that it "may not be the best statistically, but
he's beaten Federer, he's beaten Nadal, he's beaten everybody that came around
to challenge him in the biggest tournaments in the world." Rafael Nadal,
who lost to Djokovic in six finals on three different surfaces, described
Djokovic's performances as "probably the highest level of tennis that I
ever saw." Djokovic was named 2011 ITF World Champion. He also received
the Golden Bagel Award by winning 13 sets with the result of 6–0 during the
season.
In the semi-finals of the 2011 Davis Cup, Djokovic played a
crucial rubber match for Serbia against Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina,
where he retired while trailing, after reaggravating a back injury sustained
during the US Open tournament. This secured Argentina's place in the final.
This marked Djokovic's third loss of his 2011 season, and his second
retirement.
2012: Fifth major, 3 masters & return to No. 1
Djokovic began his season by winning the 2012 Australian
Open. He won his first four rounds against Paolo Lorenzi, Santiago Giraldo,
Nicolas Mahut and Lleyton Hewitt, respectively. In the quarter-finals he
defeated David Ferrer in three sets. In the semi-final, Djokovic beat Murray in
five sets after 4 hours and 50 minutes, coming back from a two-sets-to-one
deficit and fending off break points at 5-all in the fifth set. In the final,
Djokovic beat Nadal in five sets, coming from a break down in the final set to
win 7–5. At 5 hours and 53 minutes, the match was the longest final in Open Era
Grand Slam history, as well as the longest match in Australian Open history,
surpassing the 5-hour and 14-minute 2009 semi-final between Nadal and Fernando
Verdasco.
Djokovic was beaten by John Isner in the semi-finals at
Indian Wells. He successfully defended his title in Miami. In the Monte Carlo
final, he lost in straight sets to Nadal, unable to prevent Nadal from earning
his record-breaking eighth consecutive title there. Djokovic also lost in
straight sets to Nadal at the Rome Masters 2012 final.
Djokovic reached his maiden French Open final in 2012 by
defeating Federer, reaching the finals of all four Grand Slams consecutively.
Djokovic had the chance to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold
all four Grand Slam titles at once, having won last year's Wimbledon and US
Open titles as well as this year's Australian Open, but was beaten by Nadal in
the final in four sets. Following the French Open, Djokovic was unsuccessful in
defending his Wimbledon title from the prior year, losing to Roger Federer in
four sets in the semifinals.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Djokovic was chosen
as the flag bearer for Serbia. On 2 August 2012, Djokovic defeated French fifth
seed Tsonga and advanced to the semi-finals of Olympics, where he was beaten by
Murray in straight sets. In the bronze medal match he lost to Del Potro,
finishing 4th.
He successively defended his Rogers Cup title, dropping just
a single set to Tommy Haas. Following the Rogers Cup, Djokovic would make the
finals of the Cincinnati Masters but lost to Roger Federer in straight sets.
At the US Open on 9 September, Djokovic reached his third
consecutive final at Flushing Meadows by beating fourth-seeded David Ferrer in
a match suspended a day earlier due to rain. He then lost the final to Murray
in five sets. Djokovic went on to defend his China Open title, defeating Tsonga
in straight sets. The following week he won the Shanghai Masters by defeating
Murray in the final. With Federer's withdrawal from the Paris Masters, Djokovic
was guaranteed to regain his world No. 1 ranking. On 12 November 2012, Djokovic
won the 2012 ATP World Tour Finals by defeating Federer in the final. Because
of his achievements in the 2012 season, Djokovic was named the 2012 ITF World
Champion in men's singles by the International Tennis Federation.
Part Three Coming Tomorrow...
Tipster Street.
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