Djokovic has Eyes on Career Slam—Nathan’s Notice
Djokovic has Eyes on Career Slam—Nathan’s Noticeepa03085679 Novak Djokovic of Serbia smiles as he holds up his Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament champions trophy in front of the Royal Exhibition Buildings, in Melbourne, Australia, 30 January 2012. Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal of Spain in a record breaking mens single finals. EPA/BARBARA WALTON |
By: Nathan M. Cuny
Novak Djokovic just might begin the 2012 season on another historic run. After defeating world No.2 Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 in the epic 5 hour and 53 minute Australian Open finals match Djokovic made headlines all over the world. The match was the longest ever in Grand Slam history and Novak Djokovic proved many haters wrong that last season’s success wasn’t just luck, it was earned.
During 2011 when the Great Djokovic and the Notorious Nadal encountered in 6 finals matches, Djokovic prevailed every time. It looks like 2012 won’t be much different. For years (what feels like ages) the big tennis rivalry was all about Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. During the 2011 season the new Djokovic/Nadal rivalry was proposed but few people wanted to believe it.
Who would believe it when Roger Federer has been voted the most loved tennis player by fans for several years in a row. After all, Roger Federer was No.1 for 5 years, and his biggest problem was Rafael Nadal. Now, both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s biggest problem is Novak Djokovic and the Djokovic/Nadal rivalry is for real.
After winning the Australian Open for the third time Djokovic plans on finally nabbing the French Open title at Roland Garros completing the Career Grand Slam. Undoubtedly Djokovic will have to grit his teeth and battle like hell if he wants Roland Garros. Last year Roger Federer broke Djokovic’s 43 match winning streak at the Roland Garros semifinals. This year Djokovic won’t let it happen again.
With the prospects of a future Olympic Gold and the desire to go in as No.1 Djokovic has retired from Serbia’s Davis Cup match against Sweden—though it was not entirely his decision. The Serbian Davis Cup captain Bogdan Obradovic stated, “We want to spare Djokovic to help him remain the world’s No. 1 player and win gold at the Olympic Games in London. I had difficulty to persuade Djokovic not to play against Sweden, but [I] think we can beat them even without him.”
So when’s the next time we’ll see Djokovic play—at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, an ATP 500 tournament, towards the end of February. Djokovic’s biggest rival Rafael Nadal is also taking off the month of February. At the end of December Nadal said he was taking February off to recover from a shoulder injury. With the knee injury he incurred just prior to the Australian Open Nadal has much more injury to recover from—however both of his injuries seemed to bother him little during the Australian Open.
On final Djokovic notes, he and Argentine soccer player, Lionel Messi, are the top two-contenders in sports men of the year for the 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards. The award is very prestigious—Roger Federer has won the award four times. The winner will be announced on Monday, February 6th.
Topics: Career Grand Slam, Novak Djokovic
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