Novak Djokovic Confirmed As The 2012 ATP No. 1 Ranked Player

Great year for Novak. It’s nice he proved what he achieved in 2011 is not a fluke. He is really shaping up into becoming an all time champion in next 2-3 years.

If he is healthy, I would really be surprised if he does not end up with double digit slams. He has already taken HC tennis into a level we have never seen before.

If Nadal comes back healthy and with in form Murray and DelPo in the mix, it would be an exciting 2013.

October 29th, 2012 at 1:37 pm

Congratulations Novak!

He accomplished something Nadal couldn’t – consecutive Year-End No. 1.

I predict Djokovic is going to be YE #1 for 2013 and 2014 as well.

October 29th, 2012 at 1:45 pm

Congrats to Novak, well deserved!Hope he feels better….

October 29th, 2012 at 2:05 pm

Congrats to Nole and his fans once again, a well deserved YE No.1 honour for Novak, IMO.

This is the 1st year since 2003, in 9 years where the YE No.1 has not dominated the tour as it has been done so since that particular year.

Since 2003, every YE no.1 has won AT LEAST 2 GRAND SLAMS, such has been the dominance of that player in the year they end up YE no.1.

This year has been, IMHO, refreshingly fragmented with 4 different GS winners, all dominating or being the form individual at various points in the season.

With the rise of Del Potro, I see 2013 continuing in a similar vein: no outright dominate individual, just a collection of exceptional players peaking at various points in the season.

As for this year though, of the big 4 Nole was undoubtedly the most deserving YE no.1.

Well done to him!

October 29th, 2012 at 2:12 pm

Novak really is the best this year. Best in the past 2 years. My hats off to him. He proved to doubters like me that 2011 was not a fluke. Congratulations!

October 29th, 2012 at 2:24 pm

Super Novak! I hope he overtakes nadal’s 102 weeks at number 1 and wins another wimbledon to establish himself as the 2nd best player of this era.

Let’s go Novak. In the last 10 years, only Federer and novak have defended their number 1 rankings! #respect!

October 29th, 2012 at 2:59 pm

Heartiest congrats to Novak.

October 29th, 2012 at 3:39 pm

“He’s just the 16th player in ATP rrank history to finish on top in consecutive years.”

Just? 16×2 equals 32 years (of 39 years of ranking existence since 1973), so I’d say 16 isn’t exactly a small number…

October 29th, 2012 at 3:39 pm

Brando, very interesting stats, not surprising. We’re definitely in a transition, the interesting questions are:
How long will the transition from Fed and Rafa to Novak and Murray last, how long will Fed and Rafa stay in the mix?
Will anyone else soon challenge Novak and Murray?
Will Murray become a true #1 threat?

My guess is next year will be much like this year: Novak will be the best of a still intact Big Four. 2014 will be the Big Kablooie.

October 29th, 2012 at 3:54 pm

I think Murray learned from Federer and is collecting the maximum points he can at the end of this year. I strongly think he will win one of Paris or WTF. Next year after AO he will make a push and if Djoko doesn’t win AO I think he will be #1 at some point during clay, specially if Nadal doesn’t dominate clay collecting his usual 4500+ pts. He may not hold #1 but I think he will have a shot at it before Wimbledon. After that he has Wimby final, drop off 750 from Olympics, US Open champion.

I think the rankings will shift next year, similar to this, maybe with even more players in the mix.
I remember some of us saing 2012 would be do or die for Nadal (due to Nole losses) and Federer, possbile last shot at #1 and Olympics. Well, Fed done his part and Nadal partially (3 wins agaisnt Nole on clay). 2013 will be all eyes on Nadal’s return. No one kmows how it will unfold and also if Fed will have motivation to keep pursuing records. Another do or die for both, as they enter last third of thier careers.

October 29th, 2012 at 4:19 pm

@TV
That would be my guess also, 2014…

October 29th, 2012 at 4:21 pm

For a supposed strong era, it is not murray/nadal that has seized the number 1 from Novak and pushed him to the limit, but that old geezer called Federer!

2013, Fed will finish the job and actually end the year no.1 As they say, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

October 29th, 2012 at 5:13 pm

An expected and just reward for Novak’s consistency. He had a brilliant 2011 but he was more consistent in 2012 right through the season. The season has not finished but it seems safe to come to that conclusion. He is the firm favorite for 2013 also since Murray will likely not be that consistent especially on clay. I think the way Novak has responded after the Olympics is very impressive. It is similar to the way Roger responded after the 2011 US open disappointment. I also like his scheduling. He did not play Davis cup and even skipped Belgrade which must not have been easy. This is the kind of focus and ruthless commitment that is required to emerge on top. He had the confidence and self-belief to back himself to do well in the big tournaments. He and his team must be commended for a fabulous job.

@ staff

“He’s just the 16th player in ATP rrank history to finish on top in consecutive years.”

Actually, he is the 9th player to finish on top in consecutive years. Novak joins Borg, Edberg and Hewitt in the list of players who did it in two consecutive years. Lendl did it in three straight years; McEnroe and Roger in four; Connors in five and Pete in six straight years. Rafa has also finished as year-end no.1 twice but not in consecutive years.

October 29th, 2012 at 5:27 pm

@TV:

Just answering some of the valid and interesting questions you raised:

– ‘How long will the transition from Fed and Rafa to Novak and Murray last’:

I think the transition phase, IMHO, is over now. The main question facing Novak was ‘is 2011 a fluke year?’ I think we can ALL agree that it isn’t now. With Andy it was ‘will he ever win a slam?’, post USO it’s now ‘will he go on and dominate?’ so quite clearly he is seen in a different light now.

I think the transition is complete and it’s more of a situation of 4 talented players who can all beat the other and win a major at any given time (barring Andy at FO, I would say).

-‘how long will Fed and Rafa stay in the mix?’

No one truly knows the answer to this one, it’s mere guesswork at best for pretty much everyone. Hence any poster can provide a differing view on this and be just as correct as someone else. Personally, the answer lies on BOTH of their fitness.

IF they manage their bodies well, then game wise both can still trouble both Andy and Novak- and these 2 more than the other 2 still know how to handle the big stage and the big matches better than anyone else IMHO.

Remember, before rafa went out in round 2 in Wimby, he was leading the ATP 2012 race. He owned the clay season, was 2 games away from the winning the AO and SF at both IW and Miami. So clearly he was doing fairly well in comparison to others.

Fed was written of as a finished story, yet he won Wimby, is still the No.1 today and has won more trophies than anyone else so far this season.

Long story short: I wouldn’t write fedal off just yet- as it usually ends being proven wrong to do so.

-‘Will anyone else soon challenge Novak and Murray?’

Aside from Fedal, YES, and the player is: Juan Martin Del Potro.

JMDP is a player who has been as high as world no.4, finalist at WTF, Davis Cup, qtr finalist at every slam, and most importantly a GRAND SLAM WINNER. So he is a natural candidate.

This year, thankfully, he has gone through the season without any major injury issue.

And now he has JUST TURNED 24, the point at which most players start to peak. What has he done since turning 24?

He’s on a 10 MATCH WINNING STREAK, won 2 tourny’s back to back, and beat his nemesis Federer finally after a long while.

IMHO, JMDP is turning a corner here and I expect him in 2013 to turn the big 4 into a ‘magnificent 5’.

– ‘Will Murray become a true #1 threat?’

YES he is. He has matured the most of the top 4 this season, and arguably has gained the most this season. Post rnd 1 Queens, he’s been RU at Wimby, winner at Olympics, won his debut slam in the USO, and pushed Novak to the edge at Shanghai.

The game has long been there, now mentally he’s showing that he is right up there and fight hard if need be to get the win.

Next year we shall see a more consistent Murray, and his game can provide him with great results on Outdoor/ Indoor HC and grass, where -going forward- he has as much a much as the others for the win now, IMHO.

Throw in the fact that other than rafa he can gain the most points, mathematically speaking, next year then I think he DEFINITELY has a brilliant chance of being No.1.

IMHO, I predict him to be No.1 at some point next year- he’s certainly my YE No.2 for next year!

I think that 2013 will be similar to this EXCEPT that Del Potro will be a much bigger factor than this year.

2014 maybe the year where one or a few of the ‘big 4’ may start faltering and we may see the rise of a new GS contender of real calibre.

October 29th, 2012 at 5:57 pm

I hope you’re right about Del Potro, I’ve become more pessimistic with the way Fed shut the door on him this year, but I’d love to see him reach the potential he showed a few years ago.

October 29th, 2012 at 6:02 pm

you know the funny thing? i’d take Federer’s year over Djoko’s because lets face it, Fed won Wimbledon – the holy grail tournament and Nole won AO – the mickey mouse of the 4 slams

also consider this, you could have a case that Murray had the best year as he has an Olympic gold added to his GS title.

October 29th, 2012 at 7:06 pm

Brando the thing about Delpo is,that he will most likely have to beat two of the top 4 back to back to win a slam,in matches over 5 sets,which is a different animal to doing it over 3 sets,dont get me wrong im not saying he cannot do it as hes done it before,but it will be three and a half years soon since he won that USO,i really like the guy,and hopefully he will go on to win a slam this year,24 is still young,but things get harder each year not easier,dont want to sound negative about the guy,but i seem to remember rightly that we had exactly the same conversation last year hmm,however we will see i suppose.

October 29th, 2012 at 7:16 pm

I believe that Novak, Roger and Andy M will all be happy about this year. Novak for proving that 2011 was not a fluke. Roger for winning another of his beloved Wimbledon and edging Sampras for the most number of weeks at number one. And Murray for finally winning his first major (plus that Olympic gold right in his backyard). Congratulations to all of the them. Even Nadal should be happy in spite of his knee problem. He got his record breaking 7th French Open title. It was a good year for the top four. Each of us, regardless of who we root for, has a reason to be happy about this year.

October 29th, 2012 at 7:30 pm

IMO Murray is the player of the year, no question about it

October 29th, 2012 at 7:38 pm

Mike, since you said IMO there should be no reason for anybody to complain about it.

October 29th, 2012 at 7:48 pm

mickey mouse of the 4 slams

Mike
If it is so mickey mouse, then why did Roger and Murray cry about losing it?

October 29th, 2012 at 8:33 pm

Novak is sick?
I think this could be a tank job so he can rest up for the WTF. Let Andy scratch and claw for this one.

October 29th, 2012 at 8:35 pm

Polo, 7:30

That is about right, agree.

Polo, 7:48

:-)

October 29th, 2012 at 9:26 pm

I hope Djoker doesn’t pull out of Paris. I’d like to see him and Murray slug it out in the finals for another 4 hours similar to Shanghai, which would make them very tired to do anything at WTF.

October 29th, 2012 at 9:38 pm

I think Roger cried at the AO because he wanted to beat Nadal and break Sampras’record.

October 29th, 2012 at 9:40 pm

This doesn’t belong here but anyway, Tomic is again in trouble with police, after his 20th birthday party police was called in Goald Coast appartment 5:30am because of brawl between him and his friend.
Roger Rasheed is right, he should stay away from tennis until he resolves his off court problems.
Very nice interview with Roger Rasheed about Tomic, where is he now and where is he heading, doesn’t look good for Tomic ATM. As he said, it looks like Tomic is rebeling against people who are around him but cannot find way his out.

October 29th, 2012 at 10:21 pm

“his way out” should say

October 29th, 2012 at 10:22 pm

Alok,

I think he cried because he is human after all. I was raised that boys don’t cry and that how I behaved. Sometimes I wish I cried in certain situation in my life, it would do better to me than not crying, now it is to late. Those people who meant lot to me are not around any more and they will never know how I really felt about them because “boys don”t cry and don”t show their emotion” wrong, very wrong but those were different times.

October 29th, 2012 at 10:31 pm

Djoko will hold #1 at least to Monday January 21st first week of Australian Open. Thatks another 11 weeks minimum starting on November 5th.

October 29th, 2012 at 10:39 pm

@Wog Boy, I agree. In my culture, men cry, and we’re not afraid to hug each other, for fear of being accused of doing something girlie. I cried when my nephew died, and still do when he’s brought up in a conversation.

Fed crying at the AO was an indication of how much he wanted to beat Nadal only to have his hopes dashed once again.

Fed’s love for tennis runs deep.

October 29th, 2012 at 10:41 pm

Alok,

It was more growing up in the big city whose population was increasing rapidly and fighting for you space under the sun in downtown, not so culture as such though there is that element too.
I live now in big city too and when I speak with locals they had same upbringing, for example they were looked at as sissy if they played Europen football, the real game for boys was rugby. maybe that is why football (european) never really took off in Australia.
There is inner-west suburb in Sydney famous for saying “Balmain boys don’t cry”, it was very tough place to grow up and today you have to be millioner to afford house overthere.
One tip for you, if you ever come to Sydney, here man don”t hug man unless you are in Oxford street,
remember that and don’t make mistake:)

October 29th, 2012 at 11:13 pm

“Djoko will hold #1 at least to Monday January 21st first week of Australian Open. Thatks another 11 weeks minimum starting on November 5th.”

Awesome! Thanks Daniel.

“Actually, he is the 9th player to finish on top in consecutive years. Novak joins Borg, Edberg and Hewitt in the list of players who did it in two consecutive years. Lendl did it in three straight years; McEnroe and Roger in four; Connors in five and Pete in six straight years. Rafa has also finished as year-end no.1 twice but not in consecutive years.”

Thanks for revealing this info rogerafa – nice to know!

“It was a good year for the top four. Each of us, regardless of who we root for, has a reason to be happy about this year.”

Well put Polo. I agree.

“Novak is sick?
I think this could be a tank job so he can rest up for the WTF. Let Andy scratch and claw for this one.”

courtside, I noticed Nole has rescheduled his live stream chat with fans for tomorrow evening, so that bodes well, or at least that’s how I am interpreting it at the moment.

Wog boy “I think he cried because he is human after all. ”

Indeed: and each slam is unique and important. We all have preferences, and probably players/pundits included. But in the end, they all count for the same amount of points and they all count as slams in the slam count.

October 29th, 2012 at 11:23 pm

@Wog Boy: “One tip for you, if you ever come to Sydney, here man don”t hug man unless you are in Oxford street,
remember that and don’t make mistake:)”

Thanks for the tip, I’ll tape my arms to my back.LOL. In my culture, it’s Ok for us to sit down while watching a game and put my hand on my friends shoulder. But, as they say, different strokes for different folks.

October 29th, 2012 at 11:29 pm

Fed was also newly pregnant, he was extra emotional!
Careful in the hurricane, guys!

October 29th, 2012 at 11:30 pm

dari,

“Fed was also newly pregnant, he was extra emotional!”

Is this how you say or you are playing with words.
Just courious and trying to improve my English:) but I don”t want to make fool of myselfs by saying that in public…though it wouldn’t be first time.

October 29th, 2012 at 11:40 pm

Jane,

And If Fed and Murray doesn’t go further in AO and he defends, he will hold it a longer time, as Fed won’t be ale to make a push after AO (defending Rotterdan, Dubai and IW). It will all depend on the margin he finishes this season and most important Fed and Murray position. I think is safe to say 2013 he wikl enter top 10 in weeks as #1. He is 12 now and assure to be 11 during/after AO 13. If he can sustain for a whole year he will join a select group of players who were able to be #1 every week of a year: Federer (05, 06 and 07), Hewitt (02), Sampras (97 and 94), Lendl (86 and 87) and Connors (75, 76 and 78).

October 29th, 2012 at 11:50 pm

“Fed was also newly pregnant, he was extra emotional!”

HA HA dari, I know what you mean, but it sounds like sci-fi. :D

October 29th, 2012 at 11:51 pm

@dari, good one. ha ha.

@Wog Boy, I think people say sympathetic pregnancy symptoms.

October 29th, 2012 at 11:54 pm

Daniel,

“he will join a select group of players who were able to be #1 every week of a year”

That would be very cool, but it’s a tall ask: Rafa will be back, and Murray is getting closer all the time. And you never know with Fed. Plus Nole has AO and Miami to defend. But every little but counts.

Btw, he did hold it for every week of a year (@ 53 weeks) but just not a whole season, which is what I think you mean (i.e., all of 2012 or all of 2013, as opposed to mid-2011 to mid-2012, which is what Nole had).

October 29th, 2012 at 11:54 pm

Damm guys, I was in Juliard school the other night watching some under 20 plays piano and violin and I tears drop my face more than once. Music has this effect on me. I must be a wuss in Aussie lands. LOL
BTW I am in NY, Sandy came and here on UES I barely heard it. On TV it looks waaaay worse.

October 29th, 2012 at 11:55 pm

Daniel,

You are right now:), that was before, it is trendy now to cry, we have our Prime ministers who were regulary crying, though they have a reason to cry the way they were/are running the country:)

October 30th, 2012 at 12:16 am

Well, Daniel, it’s good to hear you are well in and amongst Sandy; she sure looks MEAN on TV!

October 30th, 2012 at 12:16 am

Congrats to Nole again. Just brilliant. Two years running, he’s NO fluke :)
Brando @ 5.57pm. Gr8 post :) Think 2013 is going to be a super year. Really enjoyed the 4 slams being split this year.
Polo@ 7.30pm Am still grinning and can’t wait for 2013.
Of course Big Boys can cry. However, in UK they used to be so “stiff upper lipped” and “buttoned up.”
Now they cry if a sponge collapses *eye roll.*

October 30th, 2012 at 3:21 am

Can anyone give me the definition of “fluke” and tell me how does it relate to djokovic’s last year?

October 30th, 2012 at 4:41 am

Margot,

:-)

Tz,

I found few:

1. A stroke of good luck.
2. An accidental stroke of luck
3. A chance occurrence; an accident

I think this is enough from a person of non english speaking backround.

I cannot help you with a second part of your question, sorry:(

October 30th, 2012 at 5:28 am

I’m not saying the Aussie Open is a mickey mouse tournament, i was saying that its by far, the least prestigeous of the 4 slams

you ask 100 players which they would rather win in the year – Aussie Open or Wimbledon – and 100 of them wouldnt say the Aussie

and i really believe Fed had the better year than Nole… the only difference is Djokovic played 9 masters 1000’s and Fed played only 6 + the fact Djoko had the luck of the draw in New York

Fed got an Olympic silver medal afterall, Nole got nothing.

October 30th, 2012 at 9:19 am

At the slams, too, Nole won more points and went deeper than anyone:

He was winner, finalist, semis, and finalist. In other words he was in 3 of the 4 possible slam finals for the 2nd year.

Fed was semis, semis, winner, quartersl.

Murray was semis, quarters, winner, finalist, so he had slightly better slam results.

As for the AO, it might indeed be less prestigious, but I am sure no player would care. And Fed definitely wouldn’t give up his 4 AO titles as that would put him behind Pete, at 13, if he did.

So, in the end, it doesn’t really matter (at least to most) where a slam is ranked, insofar as “a slam is a slam” in the count.

October 30th, 2012 at 9:35 am

Some fun Q & A videos with Jo-Willy and Andy on the Paris website:

http://tinyurl.com/9nlsmjj

http://tinyurl.com/8tfja7l

Nice change from the stuffy post-match interview. They’re able to be themselves more. More tournaments should do this.

October 30th, 2012 at 9:55 am

The year in tennis does not begin and end in Wimbledon.

October 30th, 2012 at 10:05 am

@ polo

Precisely. Of course Wimbledon is the most prestigious but I bet a vast majority of players, if asked, would say they enjoy the AO the most. That’s why it got the nickname the ‘happy slam’. Personally, it’s my 2nd favourite after Wimby. Fantastic venues/crowds and so well run. Enjoy it much more than RG or the USO.

October 30th, 2012 at 10:18 am

the DA, I agree. I really enjoy the AO – the crowds, just like at Wimbledonm too imo, are fair and respectful, and they seem to be avid tennis fans. I love watching the AO – EXCEPT that it means I am up in the middle of the night.

In age, Wimbledon is the oldest, with the most tradition, whereas AO is the youngest with a lot of exuberance.

Wimbledon began in 1877
US open in 1881
Roland Garros in 1891
Australian open in 1905.

October 30th, 2012 at 10:44 am

@wog boy,
thanks for responding. But i’d be much more delighted if u could enlighten me with answering the 2nd part of the question :)

@jane,
i didn’t know that AO was the youngest of the slams. I used to think USO was the youngest. So, thanks for the info

October 30th, 2012 at 11:01 am

It’s a shame that Nadal’s still out with his knee injury, although that is exactly what everyone said back when he burst into the upper echelons with his brutal training regime, so it’s hardly a surprise. It’s just a bit of a shame to see Djokovic overtake Federer and Murray hover around trying to pick up the odd title here and there, all the while Nadal is sitting on a yacht somewhere being troubled by his knee. Hopefully he’ll regain his motivation and recover by Wimbledon 2013; it’d be nice to see him back in action.

October 30th, 2012 at 11:11 am

fed

6 -7 trophies ?
1 gs
3 masters 1000
2 500
2 runner ups
2 slam semis
2 masters semis
1 wtf ?

djoker

5-6 trophies ?
1 slam
3-4 masters 1000?
1 500
2 slam runner ups
1 slam semi
1 masters 1000 semis
1 wtf?

…remarkable performance by the top 2 after all in 2012 hard to choose whose was better

October 30th, 2012 at 11:32 am

2013 will be a slugfest between Djoke and Murray (and hopefully Delpo!). Fed and Nadal will challenge on the sidelines – Nadal mostly on clay. I think it will still be a bit fragmented (I don’t think we will see a single player win 3 slams, or even 2).

My prediction?

Murray finally wins the AO (he has historically done well there).

Djokovic finally wins the French (lets face it, had it not rained, he had Nadal on the ropes this year too).

Federer ekes out a final slam at Wimbledon, his favorite hunting ground – nobody really moves as well on grass as he does.

Delpo gets a second USO – that his favorite surface, and barring injury, he can blow anyone off the court.

The No. 1 ranking stays with Djokovic for some time – I don’t think Murray takes it in the scenario I have listed above.

October 30th, 2012 at 12:04 pm

Hooray, the ATP twitter feed just announced that the WTF draw should be released on Saturday afternoon subject to results in Bercy. Anticipation.

October 30th, 2012 at 12:31 pm

trufan. “let’s face it , had it not rained, he had Nadal on the ropes this year too” Are you sure you weren’t watching some other match? Do you really think Nadal would have lost with two sets to love up in the French? #Hallucinations

October 30th, 2012 at 12:38 pm

For goodness sake’s, this questioning of rafa’s win over nole in the FO final is absolutely idiotic. Apologies to the nice nole fans (of which there are many) but time to end this stupid myth once and for all.

The following:

1- Rafa had won set one and two in that final- fair and square. So clearly Novak was NOT troubling him all that much.

2- From the start of the 3rd set rafa was complaining about the conditions- go check the footage. CLEARLY he was more than concerned about the playing conditions.

3- When the umpire stopped play post 3rd set, rafa was CLEARLY peeved with him for not doing so early. WHY? Because rafa himself said ‘what has changed now in comparison to earlier’ regarding the conditions. VALID POINT.

4- NOLE HIMSELF said that they were right to go off the court when they did, however, he ALSO AGREED with rafa that the conditions were the same at the end of set 3 as they were at the start. So clearly, IF conditions were bad to continue on post set 3, and BOTH players believe that the conditions were the same as to the start of set 3, then the CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THAT SET were an issue.

5- Hence, could it be that rafa was more concerned about the playing conditions as opposed to the trouble Novak was giving him? Oh I wonder….

6- Coult it be that having lost the first 2 sets, Nole sensed he is most likely going to lose, therefore he has nothing to lose so he may as well swing his racquet and go out all guns blazing? oh i wonder…..

7- How many SETS did rafa lose on red clay this year? A grand total of…. ONE!

8- How many sets in a row did rafa win on clay this year prior to losing that one set to nole….. 6 in a row v nole!

9- What’s rafa’s career percentage win on clay…. 98%!

10- what’s rafa’s career h2h v Nole on clay….. 12-2. ONE of those losses were at Madrid- the same venue were rafa has his ONLY LOSS to his bunny Verdasco!

11- In 12 sets at RG how many sets has nole won v rafa…..ONE MERE SET!

12- On the restart, in set 4 were nole was leading , who won that set which BOTH players knew was crucial, and had EQUAL chance of winning…. RAFA!

13- Where do people rank rafa in the list of clay greats………….

So I apologize to nole fans who feel that I maybe diminishing him with this post- I am not, i respect him and his clay game completely! He is the no.2 on clay, IMO for sure!

The post, however, is aimed that those who question rafa’s win!

It is idiotic, petty and outright wishful to do so!

The good thing is- it is usually the USUAL SUSPECTS, you know the ones- who rant and rave about rafa, BUT NEVER say a positive thing about him!

Talk about pettiness and spite……….

October 30th, 2012 at 1:17 pm

P.S:

How many people do you see questioning Federer’s Wimby win, by saying that he was lucky to have the roof we nole in the SF and then in set 3 and 4 v Andy in the final?

Or that he was lucky to survive against Benneteau and Malisse?

NONE.

So please extend the same courtesy to rafa and his FO win since, had he not lost that ONE SET he was looking at a RECORD 3RD FO win WITHOUT dropping a set!

Lol- very questionable win, eh?…..

October 30th, 2012 at 1:28 pm

LOL! novak is the 2nd best on clay? who told you that, Jane? Please! Get real!

Federer is the 2nd best on clay in the last 10 years.

In 2004, maybe coria was 2nd best and 2012 djokovic, but when you look at an era, Federer has the better numbers.

1FO, 4 finals, 6 MS on clay and so on!

October 30th, 2012 at 1:29 pm

Whether you like it not, Wimbledon is THE tournament in tennis. For a lot of you, AO might be the greatest tennis tournament because nole won it 3 times or USopen might be the best because that is the only slam murray won, but you check with the experts, and there is WIMBLEDON, daylight and then USopen/french, daylight again and Australian Open.

I am sure there are a lot of bimbos who think euro is a much bigger/greater tournament than the football world cup. please raise your hands if you think so.

October 30th, 2012 at 1:36 pm

@TJ:

Going forward, nole is no.2 on clay.

As i said, in my opinion.

The last 2 clay seasons- 2011 and 2012, indicate that this is not a foolish thing to state!

And should Jane or others say that nole is no.2 going forward NO ONE can consider them to be foolish for doing so, since guess what?

Tennis, like life, moves forward and nole showed in the RG SF that he more than Federer is likely to be rafa’s main challenger at RG!

What happened in 2004 is irrelevant to what may happen in 2013!

October 30th, 2012 at 1:39 pm

another thing, rafa’s winning % on clay is not 98%.

October 30th, 2012 at 1:39 pm

@brando,
i agree that rafa was more concerned about the weather. I totally agree with u. Most will agree with u. But you know, it annoys me when i see SOME people laugh at Fed about “the bad light” fact at wimby 2008 final. Its not like fed must’ve had won that match had that match postponed, but who knows? don’t u think that it had some impact on fed’s mind??

Sorry for Bringing back old story. But i read some comments from some posters in this forum earlier this year, on fedal h2h, who were criticizing federer about that bad light issue. Can’t remember the names, but i hope they read this

October 30th, 2012 at 1:40 pm

then some bimbo will be the best on clay 50 years ahead. sounds good to you I am guessing!

October 30th, 2012 at 1:40 pm

we can only speak about, what has happened thus far.

who knows what might happen? you might die tomorrow. djokovic might never play tennis again. I can say Rafa will be outed as doper next year. none of these makes sense.

if you want to suck up to a few losers, so be it. but please dont make up numbers and distort the facts.

do you know rafa’s winning % on clay? [ clue, it is not 98%]

October 30th, 2012 at 1:46 pm

Rafa won that match. End of story.

October 30th, 2012 at 1:47 pm

funny, you want to claim nole as no.2 on clay, but you have a problem with people saying nole was the best on clay last 2 years.

most people think Rafa got lucky with federer taking out nole at FO 2011, in the middle of a hot streak where he whupped rafa’s behind 7 times in a row on 3 different surfaces, 3 different grandslams.

October 30th, 2012 at 1:51 pm

If nole is no.2 on clay going forward, one could also claim, nole is ahead of rafa on hardcourts and grass court too.

In fact, it is more likely nole will end with a much better record than rafa outside clay, than him ending with a better clay record than federer.

Nole already has more hardcourt slams and year end championships. going ahead, he will most probably surpass rafa’s weeks at no.1 and no. of wimbledon titles.

While on clay, federer and not djokovic still has the better career win%, titles won, french open record, masters won and so on. While we are speaking about truths, let us also acknowledge that rafa @ FO prior to 2009 was a much superior player than rafa on clay after 2009.

If anything, we must say nole is the 2nd best non-clay player of this era, after fed.

October 30th, 2012 at 1:57 pm

‘Rafa won that match. End of story.’

Thanks skeezer.

Some seem to have a hard time accepting this fact!

October 30th, 2012 at 2:03 pm

‘If anything, we must say nole is the 2nd best non-clay player of this era, after fed.’

Good for you, please continue.

Don’t mind me of course, i’ll just be ignoring your posts from here forth.

October 30th, 2012 at 2:05 pm

brando, you made perfect sense. just scroll past the frothy mental posts. the last person who should want to start a ‘got lucky’ debate would be a fan like TJ. it would only lead to major tantrums and tears.

October 30th, 2012 at 2:05 pm

@Volley:

‘brando, you made perfect sense. just scroll past the frothy mental posts’

Thanks, will do.

Best way to deal with trolls?

By not feeding them with your attention!

P.S: rafa’s career win % on clay? 93%.

Poor rafa, i am sure he cries himself to sleep regarding the ineptness of his clay game!:-)))))))))

October 30th, 2012 at 2:11 pm

Janowicz just knocked out Cilic, and Kohlschreiber the day before. Who he?

October 30th, 2012 at 2:52 pm

Ofcourse, djokovic who won 0GS made 1 final @ FO should be called a greater clay court player than a Federer who won a FO, who made 4 finals and won 6 MS on clay with a greater winning percentage than the other guy.

At the same time you should not say Djokovic who has 5GS on non-clay surfaces is greater than nadal who has only 4 non-clay GS.

only possible in a rafaturd’s world!

October 30th, 2012 at 5:19 pm

Federer > djokovic on clay.

Djokovic > Nadal outside clay. Deal with it, you petty minded rafa fans :)

and Yes, djokovic is the best clay courter looking ahead. He is going to win more French Opens than Nadal, [ and also more Wimbledon, Australian or USopen] than Nadal from now on.

He will end his career as the 2nd greatest player of this era, ahead of Nadal.

Djokovic has more australian opens than nadal. Much better USopen record than nadal and more Year end championships than nadal.

The only thing Nadal has more than djokovic is the French Open and other clay titles. Please keep them. Sampras achieved 14 GS without even winning one of those junkies!

October 30th, 2012 at 5:24 pm

” How many people do you see questioning Federer’s Wimby win, by saying that he was lucky to have the roof we nole in the SF and then in set 3 and 4 v Andy in the final?

Or that he was lucky to survive against Benneteau and Malisse? ”

WAIT! did i miss malisse/benetteau or murray or djokovic beating federer 7 times in a row spread over 3 different surfaces and 3 different slams?

please enlighten me rafaturds? where is the logic here? Nadal had his behind handed to him by djokovic through out the last 22 months. he definitely got lucky with the rain on French Open sunday.

Keep burying your empty heads in sand. Rafa will not be winning any more slams outside clay. Even on clay, he will have to get lucky and hope for Federer/Murray to beat djokovic.

October 30th, 2012 at 5:36 pm

Oh, and i like how you have the audacity to lie to us that rafa has won 98% of his career matches when he won 93%. and when I question that I am the troll.

October 30th, 2012 at 5:37 pm

Brando,

You go ballistic whem some said Djoko would win RG 2012 if not i terruption but you don’t expect anyobe to contrary your claim that Djoko is second best clay court. As TJ this is offensive to Fed’s resume. Also you mentioned that “NONE” claimed Fed was lucky due to cover in Wi by in last 2 matches. PLEASE this was bring in this forums and discusses for days and several posts. C’mon, you have to be fair, unless you were not following this site, which I ma pretty sure you were, even with Nadal out.

October 30th, 2012 at 5:42 pm

As of this date, Nadal is a more accomplished player than Djokovic. What TJ has mentioned above are his projections about the future. They may happen or they may not. But until then, Nadal remains some steps ahead of Djokovic in the ladder of greatness. Didn’t most people think Safin would achieve a lot of success after he beat Sampras easily at his only US Open title? Wasn’t there a lot of expectations when Roddick won the US Open? Weren’t there a lot of skeptics when after Federer beat Sampras at the Wimbledon QF, he lost in the first round the following year? The future is shrouded in mystery. We can never be sure of what lies ahead.

October 30th, 2012 at 5:52 pm

Polo :

How is nadal greater than djokovic outside clay?

October 30th, 2012 at 6:02 pm

Polo great post,yes Novak may go on to surpass Nadal in terms of achievements,but thats under the assumption that Nadals done,and whos to say he is done anyway?also Murray may have only just won his 1st slam,but hes actually closer to Novak than Novak is to Rafa in GS terms,so who knows Murray may even overtake Novak?no one knows lets just wait and see how things pan out,the only thing we know is we know nothing.

October 30th, 2012 at 6:04 pm

AO :

Djokovic 3 : Nadal 1.

winner – Djokovic

USopen :

Djokovic 1Win, 3 finals, 5 semifinals.
Nadal 1Win 2finals, 4 semifinals.

winner – Djokovic.

Year end championships :

Djokovic 1 title, Rafa 0

Wimbledon : Rafa 2, djokovic 1.

Overall, Djokovic 5 slams to 4 for Rafa

1year end championship to 0 for nadal.

How is nadal more accomplished than djokovic outside clay?

October 30th, 2012 at 6:06 pm

alison : please speak for yourself and the cunning one.

We know something. At this point of time, Djokovic is more accomplished than Nadal outside clay. Atleast you accepted you know nothing. there are other rafa fans who are making up numbers to argue that nadal is more accomplished than djokovic.

I will try an example. Is ferrero more accomplished outside clay than safin/hewitt?

Answer : No! Why? ferrero has 0 slams outside clay. safin/hewitt have 2 each!

now try this question :

Is nadal more accomplished than Novak, outside of clay?

If you are a genuine tennis fan. you will answer no!

If you are a petty minded rafa fan like brando, you would say yes!

October 30th, 2012 at 6:12 pm

TJ,
Nadal has 2 Wimbledons, 1 Australian and 1 US Open. Those are 4 titles outside his most accomplished major venue, the French where he has 7.

Djokovic on the otherhand, has only 1 Wimbledon, 1 US Open, and 0 French. Those are 2 titles outside his most accomplished major venue, the Australian where he has 3.

Which record looks more accomplished to you?

October 30th, 2012 at 6:15 pm

Who defined accomplishments as success outside your best surface?

October 30th, 2012 at 6:18 pm

I am stating djokovic is the more accomplished player outside clay. Are you disputing that?

October 30th, 2012 at 6:20 pm

By the way, Nadal has 21 Masters titles to Djokovic’s 13.

Players are defined by the totality of their achievements. You cannot skew the statistics to fit your purpose by omitting variables which you feel will alter your desired result.

October 30th, 2012 at 6:31 pm

Again, how many masters outside clay?

October 30th, 2012 at 6:41 pm

Daniel Says:
Brando,

You go ballistic whem some said Djoko would win RG 2012 if not i terruption but you don’t expect anyobe to contrary your claim that Djoko is second best clay court. As TJ this is offensive to Fed’s resume. Also you mentioned that “NONE” claimed Fed was lucky due to cover in Wi by in last 2 matches. PLEASE this was bring in this forums and discusses for days and several posts. C’mon, you have to be fair, unless you were not following this site, which I ma pretty sure you were, even with Nadal out.
October 30th, 2012 at 5:42 pm

———-
It was the sore loser topic for days on this and other sites, when Fed won Wimbledon. At the USO some were happy that there wasn’t a roof for Fed to play iunder, but at the same time were unhappy their faves matches were postponed due to no roof.

Just recently at Shanghai, there was mention that Fed fans should do a rain dance for the roof to be closed.

The argument about who’s 2nd best on clay has been on-going for as long as I’ve been reading this site, approx. 21 months, with one Djokovic fan claiming that it’s the Djoker and not Fed who’s got the better resume on clay. Fed fans have a lot to swallow because there’s quite a lot of collaborating going on from two sectors here.

October 30th, 2012 at 6:45 pm

Clay is a very specialized surface. Take a look at how many champions win the other 3 slams but not the french. Also look at how many other slams RG champs have won outside clay.

mcenroe, edberg, becker, sampras,rafter, safin, hewitt, connors, djokovic have all won GS outside clay without winning one on clay.

similarly, alberto costa, gaudio, kuerten, bruguera, muster and a host of clowns [except kuerten] have won @ FO but have nothing outside.

Please show me another surface that polarizes players thus. Hence accomplishments on clay need to be viewed separately from accomplishments outside clay.

October 30th, 2012 at 6:48 pm

Polo chooses to mark my post as projections, cleverly trying to avoid the non-clay achievements I had listed which are facts and not projections.

Yet, he has no problem with the fact that Brando claims djokovic to be the 2nd greatest active player on clay because, wait for this! he was ” LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE!”

As of now novak has inferior numbers on clay than federer, yet, to Brando and apparently Polo, he is the 2nd most accomplished player on clay!

October 30th, 2012 at 6:53 pm

Fed’s records are a problem for many non-Fed fans who would like for them to just vanish. Every time Fed’s records are mentioned, there’s always a counter argument to show how much one player in particular has accomplished to date.

There are 3 groups working against Fed.

October 30th, 2012 at 6:56 pm

Even with the roof helped federer argument, neither bennetau, malisse, murray or djokovic had beaten federer 7 times in a row prior to their matches!

In fact neither of these players have beaten federer even once on grass!

comparing this with djokovic-nadal, djokovic had kicked rafa’s behind 7times in a row, he had won 2 of their last 4 meetings on clay prior to the FO meeting and you realise, it is not a stretch that the rain proved lucky for Rafa.

Mr. Brando wants us to be convinced that this is the same as a bunch of guys who have never beaten Federer on grass were going to beat Federer!

October 30th, 2012 at 6:58 pm

3 groups or 100 groups, Fed has the biggest group of fan support.

9 times in a row, fan favorite award! i doubt anyone will even come close to achieving this.

Nadal, djokovic and murray all put together have a grand total of 0 fan favorite awards!

That said, I hope djokovic wins the award this year!

October 30th, 2012 at 7:00 pm

TJ, you are projecting again. I did not comment on that post about Djokovic being the second greatest active player on clay. I don’t even know who is, so how can I make an unbiased opinion about that? You not only project about the future, you also project on other people’s thoughts.

October 30th, 2012 at 7:11 pm

TJ posted earlier:
“…and Yes, djokovic is the best clay courter looking ahead. He is going to win more French Opens than Nadal, [ and also more Wimbledon, Australian or USopen] than Nadal from now on.”

What do you call that but projections? Those are not facts. They have not happened yet.

October 30th, 2012 at 7:18 pm

Got to call it a day. Goodnight, alison, don’t let TJ intimidate you. The poor guy is just jealous nobody that nobody is taking his side. I guess nobody has the ability to see the future like he does…or maybe they see a different thing coming and did not want to hurt his brittle ego.

October 30th, 2012 at 7:26 pm

“In fact neither of these players have beaten federer even once on grass!”

Except Murray of course.

And since when did it become important that tennis stars win popularity contests? I personally couldn’t care less about fan favourite awards.

October 30th, 2012 at 7:40 pm

Polo :

Look up sarcasm in the dictionary. That was my reply to the cr@p brando posted about djokovic being a better clay courter than federer “looking in to the future”

You still seem to have no objections about your pal twisting numbers and looking into future? How come you did not call him out on his projections?

And dont worry, anyone who understands 5 > 4 will understand nole is a better player than Nadal outside clay!

October 30th, 2012 at 7:48 pm

yes DA!

Federer would have known at wimbledon that murray will beat him a month later in olympics!

October 30th, 2012 at 7:49 pm

ofcourse you wouldn’t care. murray does not have a prayer in winning any such awards.

Federer’s popularity is a vote for his game and the way he conducts himself. There is a greater likelihood that Lady Gaga will win the Nobel prize than murray winning the ATP fan favorite award with federer, nadal and djokovic around!

October 30th, 2012 at 7:52 pm

Hmmm…your posting style is eerily familiar. I’m thrilled that you get such a kick out of the fan favourite award but I’m more interested in titles. Sports personality or player of the year awards are more meaningful. Each to their own. I’m a fan not a cult member.

Honestly, you can always tell when Fed takes a break. Tennis forums always see sudden surge of splenetic outbursts about the other top 3 players.

October 30th, 2012 at 8:11 pm

” I’m a fan not a cult member.”

You can keep repeating that and still we know that you belong to the federer hating cult! [ you could be that chinese psycho guy, for all we know!]

October 30th, 2012 at 8:33 pm

LOL. You’re presuming to know my views on Federer? Hint: you have NO clue. I can appreciate other great players even whilst rooting for my guy. I’m certainly glad I don’t live in the same monochrome world that you inhabit.

October 30th, 2012 at 8:43 pm

Pls don’t put all us eggs in the same basket. :)

I think there’s always a blurry line when people talk about players. Concerning present form, past achievement and speculations on future titles.

While I was watching the semi’s of Basel I remember some commentators ranking Djokovic as the favorite and Murray as the 2nd Fav for WTF. I found this ridiculous myself, but they where obviously judging by current form and achievements in the last 2 months(US Open being the benchmark).

Yet they failed to take into account WTF titles, and failed to mention Feds dominance on indoor courts.

Either way everyone has there own way of seeing things.

I’m just happy Feds still around :).

Mark my words..

One day the tables will turn, and Fedal wars will become nothing but a case of two fan bases, reminding each other of the brilliance of two Legends-whilst the next generation emerges. Its already happening-a damn shame for some fans. A green round ballasm for others.

Unrelated. IMO..
Djokovic may have more GS outside of clay.
And even though he spanked Nadal 7 times in a row, I still think hes got a long way to go before he can be put in the same category as Nadal. I have enormous respect for Nadal if only for all the Grand Slams hes taken from Feeder.
Were talking about a different generation here.

The Fedale Era was the bomb. I think neither is as good as then.

This is the transition into the Post-Fedale Era IMO. Sad but true.

Delpo will be my next FAV that’s for sure.

October 30th, 2012 at 8:44 pm

I don’t think that typo needs correcting.

but here it goes: FEDDY BEAR!!

October 30th, 2012 at 8:49 pm

@ john – of course I didn’t mean to lump all of you together. There are some notable exceptions on this site. There are also exceptions on the other tennis forums I visit. However, with such a vast fan base one tends to encounter more of the frothy ones.

“One day the tables will turn, and Fedal wars will become nothing but a case of two fan bases, reminding each other of the brilliance of two Legends”

LOL, too right. I can only imagine the mass grief when the retirement finally comes; and for the more fanatic fans an upsurge in counseling visits.

October 30th, 2012 at 8:59 pm

@Daniel: exactly how is it offensive to say that: IMHO nole is ,going forward, the no.2 on clay to rafa? Look at 2011 and 2012 clay season and tell me how GOING FORWARD someone else is likely to do better than rafa and nole on clay! ANY tennis who isn’t biased shall tell you that going forward on clay: 1- rafa is still the man to beat, hence no.1 on clay! 2-nole is the most likely main challenger to rafa on clay based on 2011 and 2012 results, hence clay no.2! I see NOTHING disrepectful towards fed in saying this- in fact the man himself may agree with this!

October 30th, 2012 at 9:25 pm

^^^ANY tennis fan.

October 30th, 2012 at 9:27 pm

For Nole’s fans: here is Nole’s livestream chat; it is fantastic. He talks about all sorts of things. What-a-guy!! :))

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/26549717

October 30th, 2012 at 10:42 pm

Jane,

Lol. Me thinks your in Love ;)

October 30th, 2012 at 11:18 pm

Well, I am skeezer, but not with Nole. :)

However, I think it’s just great that Nole took these 25 minutes to answer (live) various questions that his fans sent in via chat, and the questions ranged fairly widely. It was a good effort and nice way to touch base with fans. That’s what impressed me. His answers were great too.

October 30th, 2012 at 11:30 pm

jane,

What app do I need to watch it?
I cannot open it:(

October 30th, 2012 at 11:34 pm

Brando

In your 2:05 coment you make fan of a statemnet of TJ which is very fair and the core lf all this argument:

‘If anything, we must say nole is the 2nd best non-clay player of this era, after fed.’

Which right now is true and the basis of mu arguing as well. If you mock that is because you don’t think Fed is te second best clay courter of this era, which he is and that’s offensive. Because you shown that this going forward is a cover up. You are so sure Djoko will be better on clay next seasons that you can’t recognise Federer as the second best claycourter of this era.

This era is untill today. And untill today Fed is the superior clay courter with 5 French finals, 1 trophy, 6 MS, 5 consecutive semis (a record not even Nadal has). Even if last 2 seasons point towards Djoko, what Fed done on clay since 2005 also preventing Nadal from a clay sweep in 2007 and potentially in 2009 has to be remembered. Fed is the only player to beat nadal on clay in different years. Djoko also did it twice but in the same year, on a unique stride.

October 30th, 2012 at 11:37 pm

Wog Boy, I didn’t need an app. When I go to that link it automatically played. Try Nole’s website maybe?

October 30th, 2012 at 11:39 pm

@Daniel: what the hell are you on about my fellow poster? Can’t you see in that post I am saying sayonara to TJ and his posts? An where do I say novak is more accomplished than federer on clay? Show me where I have said that on this thread? I said that IMO ( meaning mine not someone else’s) I see Novak as the no. 2 player on clay GOING FORWARD! Why? Because for me he and rafa have been the best clay court players in the 2011 and 2012 season! Now IF a level heade federer fan like you thinks I am offending federer b saying that, then unfortunately that is your problem! As I know that my intention is NOT to offend roger by saying this, BUT to make it clear as to how I SEE the clay seasons big contenders going forward into 2013! I stand by my statement: for me the top 2 clay court players who are most likely to be there in the major clay finals going in are: 1- nadal, 2- djokovic!

October 31st, 2012 at 12:00 am

@jane

Just teasin, I saw an open door to do it to u so couldn’t resist.
;)

Transcript?

October 31st, 2012 at 12:06 am

P.S: ask yourself this question: how MANY federer fans on this site thought that in this years FO championship IF rafa Was not going to win then it most likely would be NOVAK? Were they ALSO being disrespectful to federer for thinking as such? OR were they just being REALISTIC about things? Either way I am through explaining the blindingly OBVIOUS on this issue!

October 31st, 2012 at 12:06 am

Ok Brando agree with your 12:00 post as well.

But you didn’t specific tell no am is more acomplkshed but if you made fun of a coment when A poster said Fed is the more acomplished player, past to present to me is verg clear.

For example you also didn’t agree wih the contrary in any post.

So my question to you (as a fair poster) is: As of today, past and present who do you think is the second best on clay in this era: Fed or Djoko? Because you use going forward to not have to give credit to Fed right now. That is a way of denying a fact and the point TJ aas trying to make and several mocked him.
You can also think that Djoko is second best right now, it’s your opinion. But by usin ‘going forward’ you create a sense of unknow and can stay 3 years waiting for Djoko to a actually be #2 clay courter of this era, something he might achie e or not.

October 31st, 2012 at 10:29 am

Btw, it is no obivious your positiom about Federer as the second best claycourter of this generation. You are trying to avoid giving a clear statement. Forget about going forward, I am not arguing that, leave that for Jamie:)

I want to know what YOU think right now. If you want to fade, the answer to me will be clear.

Btw, going forward to me Djoko will be favourite in every match against Nadal 50-50 om clay depending on how Nadal returns.

October 31st, 2012 at 10:55 am

@Daniel:

I have said everything that i wish to say on this matter, so I see no point in continuing on about it.

Look, I like you as a poster, so let’s just agree to disagree on this one and move on.

October 31st, 2012 at 12:16 pm

TJ @ October 30th 6.12pm 1st of all i am more than capable of speaking for myself,2nd of all when i claimed i know nothing i mean i know nothing about what will happen in the future and nobody else does either,you need to calm down,instead of turning this thread into a slanging match,your right in terms of slams off clay then Novak is a more acomplished player although only just,in terms of others titles admitidly i dont know,and granted HCs cover more of the season than any other slams,however the AO and the USO are two seperate slams,as you rightly say Novak has 3 to Rafas one at the AO,FO case closed,Wimbledon Rafa has two Novak has one,Rafa has also been in 3 other finals although you dont get anything for been a runner up,Novaks been in 1 final and won that,USO both have won one each,yes Novaks been in 1 more final,but again you get nothing for been a runner up,so in fact aside from the WTF,the only slam that Novak has done better at is the AO,Rafa has a singles gold medal on a HC too,people may think thats not as important as a slam,but the players wouldnt be so keen to win it if it wasnt important to them IMO,Rafa has 11 slams Novak has 5 slams and a WTF,i know whos shoes i would rather be in,JMO AND HELL IM ENTITLED TO IT.

October 31st, 2012 at 12:57 pm

Sad to see the kind of stupidity people will display in denying obvious things.

Djokovic is a much better player than Nadal off clay. It is that simple.

runner ups dont matter, let’s look at their performances on their 2nd best surfaces, anything to bury your head in denial.

the piece of cake ofcourse goes to that dimwit who thinks djokovic is a better player on clay than federer because he can look into the future!

October 31st, 2012 at 1:39 pm

Yes and as i already said Novaks a more acomplished player of clay its that simple,and i didnt say runners up do matter,go back and read again.

October 31st, 2012 at 1:46 pm

^BTW Rafa has won Wimbledon twice,and Novak has only won wimbledon once,correct me if im wrong,but wimbledon is not a CC slam,or a HC either come to think of it, now im done squabbling over petty little things,and thats all im saying on the matter,over and out.^

October 31st, 2012 at 1:51 pm

TJ , one correction, Fjoko has 3 runnee ups in US Opne he lost to all other top 4: 2007 to Fed, 2010 to Nadal and 2012 to Murray. Actually this stat is intriguimg because some clame Djoko is the best hard court player, took it to a new level but in the Slam who favors hardcourt play the most he is 1-3, even though he is on a 3 straight final and 6 semis in a row. But he should be winning more US Open going forward.

October 31st, 2012 at 2:39 pm

Ok Brando, point taken! You really do think Djoko is the second clay court of the Nadal era (2005-2012) as of today.
Or the desire to diminish Fed in advance is so big that you can’t denu this claim just because you think in the future it will hold true. Sorry to be persistent because this amuaes me deeply and the nature of this thought: not being able to acwpt something now because tou feel\know will happen or bias as a Nadal’s fan. And I am sure others may think like you, a more immediate approach.

It’s the same what happen to Fed after 2006, he had 9 Slams and people were predicting him goat ahead of Sampras and Laver. Even thought that came true, in the time ir was disrespectfull towards Sampras and Laver.

October 31st, 2012 at 3:05 pm

[…] Djokovic, who had won 10 straight matches coming into Paris, will now have four days off to prepare for the year-end ATP Finals in London where he’ll be the top seed. Djokovic is also confirmed as the 2012 No. 1 ranked player. […]

October 31st, 2012 at 3:12 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QziL1YguOYM&feature=youtube_gdata_player. Happy Halloween guys!!

October 31st, 2012 at 3:18 pm

Giles hilarious love it brilliant thanks,happy halloween tennis x posters lol.

October 31st, 2012 at 3:23 pm

Daniel, dont bother, it is obvious there is a deep hatred for Federer there.

The funny thing is, there is much more ammunition to claim Novak is the 2nd best player outside clay. Yet, these petty minded rafa fans will not admit that.

Why is novak the 2nd best clay courter of this era? because these m0r0ns hope that he will win more french opens then federer in the future. How about they stop acting like they are some Nostradamus and instead look at the numbers?

The hard fact is, outside clay,

Federer 1st, djokovic 2nd.

And on clay, there is no way djokovic is 2nd ahead of Federer. I am sure once murray makes a FO final by fluke, these idi0ts will proclaim to be the 3rd best clay courter of these past 10 years!

October 31st, 2012 at 3:36 pm

I agree going forward Djokovic will obviously accomplish more on clay than Federer.

But not cause Djokovic is the better clay court player. That’s laughable. The only person in the world that could stop Federer winning RG in his prime was Nadal.

Its because Federer is 31 and in the tail end of his career for petes sake!

A 30 year old Federer beat Djokovic at his absolute best at RG last year.

That should settle the argument.

I mean seriously.

October 31st, 2012 at 4:02 pm

I feel when Murray wins Paris.

Then whoever of the three will win WTF either Novak, Fed or Murray would become the best player of the year.

October 31st, 2012 at 4:03 pm

That’s a logical explanation. I think Djokovic can handle Nadal better on clay (going forward)than Federer could because of two factors: they are closer in age and Nadal’s problematic knees.

October 31st, 2012 at 4:20 pm

Going forward Djokovic could win a lot more titles because he only has Murray as solid competition. Fed’s fading and Nadal’s knees are questionable especially after the clay season, and that will help Djokovic tremendously. Unfortunately, records are not indicative of how deep the competition is. Who knows what the future holds for these guys.

October 31st, 2012 at 7:58 pm

As I predicted a long time ago this year, Djokovic finished 2012 as #1.

2013 predictions:

Federer will not win anymore slams, he will retire with 17 slams. Wimbledon 2012 was his swan song.

Nadal will win just one more slam, RG 2013 will be his swan song. He will retire with 12 slams.

Murray will be the player of 2013 and win two slams. He will win Wimbledon 2013 and a HC slam.

Djokovic will be Murray’s biggest challenger and he will reach several slam finals but will only win one slam in 2013, a HC slam.

Del Potro will reach a slam final but he will lose it.

You heard it here first.

October 31st, 2012 at 9:32 pm

It’s good then that Nole won all 5 slams that he has thus far by beating either Fed or Rafa or both. He had to work hard for those wins over them.

I also love that that Laver included him on his list of present great players. This is old, but it’s an interesting list none the less – I think it came out after this year’s AO:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/archives/old-sport-pages/gallery-fn77kxzt-1226250654969?page=1

October 31st, 2012 at 10:17 pm

jane

Iron sharpens Iron ;)

November 1st, 2012 at 12:10 am

^ Right skeezer. And Nole would say the same.

November 1st, 2012 at 12:33 am

If you do a statistical study to predict what will happen in 2013 to the top 4 players based on how they have been performed in the previous 3-4 years, they will be not be far off from Jamie’s predictions.

November 1st, 2012 at 7:30 am

remove “been” from above post. :-)

November 1st, 2012 at 7:31 am

Polo yeah Easy to predict the predictable.

November 1st, 2012 at 8:14 am

Hope Jamies right Murray winning wimby,ther wont be a dry eye in the house,and Rafa winning RG for the 8th time,no ones ever won a GS nine years in a row so he would be breaking two records their,however Jamies predictions change as often as the weather,best to just wait and see.

November 1st, 2012 at 8:33 am

Summary of Big Four Results To Date
(hopefully the columns align)

2012 Results: Federer vs Djokovic vs Murray vs Nadal

National Duty:
Olympic Games F(SM) 4th W(GM) DNP
Davis Cup 2 Ties DNP DNP DNP

Grand Slam tournaments:
Australian Open SF W SF F
French Open SF F QF W
Wimbledon W SF F 2R
US Open QF F W DNP

Year-End World Championship
ATP World Tour Finals ??? ??? ??? DNP

ATP Masters 1000:
Monte Carlo DNP F QF W
Canada DNP W 3R DNP
Paris DNP 2R 3R DNP
Indian Wells W SF 2R SF
Miami 3R W F SF
Rome SF F 3R W
Madrid W QF DNP 3R
Cincinnati W F 3R DNP
Shanghai SF W F DNP

ATP 500:
Beijing DNP W DNP DNP
Rotterdam W DNP DNP DNP
Dubai W SF F DNP
Basel F DNP DNP DNP
Tokyo DNP DNP SF DNP
Barcelona DNP DNP QF W

ATP 250:
Doha SF DNP DNP SF
Halle F DNP DNP QF
London/Queens DNP DNP 2R DNP
Brisbane DNP DNP W DNP

Summary:
Tournaments 16+2DC 16 18 11
Titles 6 5 3 4
Finals Reached 9 10 7 5
Overall Win–Loss 68–10 70-12 54-14 42-6
Win % 87% 85% 79% 87%
Year-End Ranking 2 1 3 4

November 1st, 2012 at 12:19 pm

Unfortunately the columns did not align (Sean/Tom, you can reformat the information and use it for an article/blog if you wish).

So careful reading is needed: for each row, the data from left to right is Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Nadal.

Ranking Points (YTD): 9,555 11,455 7,600 6,795
(data includes Murray’s loss at Paris)

November 1st, 2012 at 12:28 pm

CONGRATULATIONS MY NOVAK. YOU’RE THE BEST EVER!
GOD STILL BLESS U!
FROM YOUR FAN#1 FROM MEXICO.

January 23rd, 2013 at 12:15 am