Sunday, January 31, 2016

AO Final: Djokovic Blots Out the Sun


Hail the future all-time slam king, for Novak Djokovic is at it again. Or I should say, he's STILL at it. As a result, the ATP tour continues to experience a full-on Serbian eclipse.



Make no mistake about it, the unchallenged world #1 currently blankets the men's tour like not even Serena Williams has covered the WTA landscape in recent and past seasons. Djokovic's command of the moment is more akin to the dominant runs put together by Martina Navratilova or Steffi Graf, only without even one in-their-prime future star reliably capable of rising up and truly challenging him for the tour lead. As 2016 stands just one month old, there are no men in position to play the same role of "eventual power usurper" as Graf did vs. Navratilova, or as Monica Seles later did vs. Graf. Milos Raonic seems to be methodically getting closer, but he's still only a mushy "maybe." Only maybe Stan Wawrinka, in something of a Chris Evert/Hana Mandlikova hybrid sort of role, seems capable or rising up under the right circumstances and truly making a push vs. Djokovic, but not on a weekly basis over the course of a long season.

As for fellow Australian Open finalist Andy Murray, well, the Scot continues to fill the "professional final opponent" slot in Melbourne. So much so that he should maybe consider donning a Washington Generals uniform-inspired outfit next year. Playing in his fifth AO final in seven years, there was little doubt on Sunday that he'd sport a mark of 0-5 in the those matches once Djokovic was through with him.

The Scot had just one brief glimpse of daylight offered up to him by Djokovic in this final, but it was quickly snuffed out.

Djokovic jumped out of the starting gate with great force, taking a 5-0 1st set lead before Murray got on the board. He won the set 6-1, as Murray won just 20% of his second serve points. In the 2nd, the two men exchanged breaks in games #7 and #8, setting the stage for the key eleventh game of the set.

Serving at 5-5, Murray led 40/love. But he was wrong on a replay challenge on a forehand called out on his first game point, meaning Djokovic had indeed lived to play another point in the game. Little did the Scot know that the millimeters by which he'd missed the shot had essentially taken away his only chance to make a match of things. Or maybe he did know. No player in men's tennis can carve out a comeback from less than Djokovic. A small hint of life, however short the breath, be it one game or a single point, is often the spark that lifts him from a seemingly "dead" position. That missed shot from Murray would prove to be just the latest example.

At 40/15, Djokovic's crosscourt shot was his first forehand winner of the 2nd set. At 40/30, a 36-shot rally highlighted by tremendous defense from the Serb ended with an extracted Murray error. At deuce, Djokovic reached BP with a backhand passing shot when Murray moved toward the net just a little too early and became a sitting duck/Scot. At break point, Murray clipped the net cord twice in the rally, while Djokovic was steady until his opponent fired a shot long to hand the Serb the break for 6-5.

A game later, Djokovic's back-to-back double-faults gave Murray a BP and a shot to crack open a small window, but when he didn't challenge a Djokovic first serve (it was out, replay showed) and then lost the point he didn't force the Serb to hit a second serve and try to avoid a third straight DF. After Murray pulled a backhand wide, Djokovic reached set point and when the Scot netted a forehand up the line he won the 2nd 7-5.

From there, it was essentially over. Everyone knew it. But the two still had to play the 3rd set to make it official. Djokovic got an early break, only to see Murray get things back on serve at 3-3, converting his second BP of the match after previously being 1-for-5. The set concluded with a tie-break dominated by Djokovic. He grabbed a mini-break lead at 1-0, then ran away to a 6-1 bulge. Finally, on his third MP he fired an ace to close Murray out 6-1/7-5/7-6(3).

Djokovic's sixth Australian Open title ties American Roy Emerson for the all-time AO lead, while career slam crown #11 brings him even with Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver, who was in attendance for the final in the stands of the stadium named in his honor.



Eight years after he burst onto the scene as a 20-year old slam winner in Melbourne in 2008, Djokovic is now an Australian Open living legend. But that's only a small pleat in the cape he currently sports as he surveys the landscape of the sport from her perch high above the rest of the field.

From the start, Djokovic was a quick riser. He reached his first slam quarterfinal in the sixth major draw of his career (it took Federer, for example, eight), the semifinals in his tenth (Federer-17), and the final in his twelfth (17). At his thirteenth major, he won slam title #1. It took Djokovic three years to win #2 in 2011, the second longest stretch (12 slams) between any male slam champ's first two titles, behind only Marat Safin's 14-slam gap. But the big Russian never won another major title, while the occasion of HIS second crown shot Djokovic down the runway at great speed.

He's been busy hitting his stride every since. Now, he's sprinting.

At this AO, Djokovic ran his mark in Melbourne since 2011 to 39-1. He's 34-1 in his last thirty-five slam matches. He just played in his fifth straight slam final, his seventh in eight majors, and 17th of 22. He's reached 27 consecutive slam quarterfinals, and 22 of 23 semifinals. 94-6 overall since the start of the 2015 season, Djokovic has played in seventeen straight tour finals, is 39-2 in Masters events, has won four slam crowns and thirteen titles over the thirteen-month span. He's 36-5 vs. the Top 10 during the stretch, and has pushed his career head-to-head over the others in the "Big 4" of the era in his favor -- 23-22 vs. Federer, 24-23 vs. Nadal, and 22-9 vs. Murray. Djokovic was one match (the RG final vs. Wawrinka) from a Grand Slam last year when, frankly, he had a better season than even Serena Williams, and one of the best seasons the sport has EVER seen.

In a year in which a Grand Slam is once again in play, as is a "Golden Slam" -- the only major singles honor he may be yet to claim, much like Federer, is individual Olympic Gold... assuming he wins in Paris this spring -- there seems to be no quick end in sight to the Serbian eclipse.

At 28, an age which no longer has the same the-end-is-near connotation it once did in the sport, Djokovic is in his physical prime at the moment. His enhanced training techniques and diet, along with coach Boris Becker's guidance in playing/practicing in such a way early in slams that Djokovic doesn't sap his energy (something which likely cost him a few slam titles earlier in his career during that three-year drought), allowing himself to be mentally fresh in the latter stages of a major. It's put the Serb in the position of being THE favorite to win in every event he plays. And he almost always lives up to the expectation, or close to it. It's a "burden" he seems to have no problem shouldering.



With eleven major titles, Djokovic stands one from Emerson on the all-time list, and just three behind Nadal and Sampras (a gap which could be closed within the next year). At the moment, Federer stands six away, but that number is sure to shrink before the end of 2015. It's why it is essential for Federer to find a way to somehow chip out one more major title from the growing Djokovic numbers edifice if he wishes to have a chance to stay atop the all-time title list that, surely, a few years ago, he thought he'd be looking down from for the rest of his days, or most of them. Well, either that, or one of the NextGen challengers must truly emerge to take away a few of Djokovic's seemingly endless major trophy opportunities. If not Raonic or Grigor Dimitrov, then Nick Kyrgios or Dominic Thiem or another "mystery" candidate. Truthfully, though, none of those scenarios seem likely. Djokovic is going to catch, and surpass, Federer. It's just a matter of time.


And, somewhere, that Numbers Guy is rubbing his hands together with an evil grin on his face. He knew it all along.


=NOTES=
...in the mixed doubles final, #5-seeds Elena Vesnina & Bruno Soares defeated unseeded CoCo Vandeweghe & Horia Tecau 6-4/4-6 [10-5] as the Russian picks up her first career mixed title to go along with her two in women's doubles with Ekaterina Makarova. Soares also won this year's AO men's doubles title, becoming the first man to sweep the titles at the event since Mark Woodforde in 1992. The last man to do it at any other slam was Bob Bryan at the 2010 U.S. Open.




...LIKE FROM DAY 14: Serena has company in the "Six Club"



...LIKE FROM DAY 14: Going "au naturel"





*MEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Novak Djokovic/SRB def. #2 Andy Murray/GBR 6-1/7-5/7-6(3)

*MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#7 J.Murray/Soares (GBR/BRA) def. Nestor/Stepanek (CAN/CZE) 2-6/6-4/7-5

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
#5 Vesnina/Soares (RUS/BRA) def. Vandeweghe/Tecau (USA/ROU) 6-4/4-6 [10-5]

*BOYS SINGLES FINAL*
Oliver Anderson/AUS def. #7 Jurabek Karimov/UZB 6-2/1-6/6-1

*BOYS DOUBLES FINAL*
De Minaur/Ellis (AUS/AUS) def. #8 Klein/Rikl (SVK/CZE) 3-6/7-5 [12-10]

*MEN'S WC SINGLES FINAL*
Gordon Reid/GBR def. Joachim Gerard/BEL 7-6(6)/6-4

*MEN'S WC DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Houdet/Peifer (FRA/FRA) def. #2 Reid/Kunieda (GBR/JPN) 6-3/3-6/7-5


**ALL-TIME ATP SLAM TITLES**
17 - Roger Federer, SUI
14 - Rafael Nadal, ESP
14 - Pete Sampras, USA
12 - Roy Emerson, USA
11 - NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SRB
11 - Bjorn Borg, SWE
11 - Rod Laver, AUS
10 - Bill Tilden, USA
[active]
17...Roger Federer, SUI
14...Rafael Nadal, ESP
11...NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SRB
2...Andy Murray, GBR
2...Stan Wawrinka, SUI
1...Marin Cilic, CRO
1...Juan Martin del Potro, ARG

**AO MEN'S SINGLES TITLES*
[Open era]
6...NOVAK DJOKOVIC
4...Andre Agassi
4...Roger Federer
3...Mats Wilander
[all-time]
6...NOVAK DJOKOVIC
6...Roy Emerson
4...Andre Agassi
4...Jack Crawford
4...Roger Federer
4...Ken Rosewall
4...Pat Wood
3...Rod Laver
3...Adrian Quist
3...Mats Wilander

**SLAM FINALS - ACTIVE MEN**
27...Roger Federer, SUI (17-10)
20...Rafael Nadal, ESP (14-6)
19...NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SRB (11-8)
9...ANDY MURRAY, GBR (2-7)
2...Stan Wawrinka, SUI (2-0)
[all-time]
27 - Roger Federer (17-10)
20 - Rafael Nadal (14-6)
19 - NOVAK DJOKOVIC (11-8)
19 - Ivan Lendl (8-11)
18 - Pete Sampras (14-4)
17 - Rod Laver (11-6)
16 - Bjorn Borg (11-5)
16 - Ken Rosewall (8-8)

**MOST MEETINGS IN SLAM FINALS**
8 - Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal
7 - Rafael Nadal/Novak Djokovic
6 - NOVAK DJOKOVIC/ANDY MURRAY
5 - Andre Agassi/Pete Sampras
5 - Ivan Lendl/Mats Wilander

**DJOKOVIC IN AO FINALS**
2008 def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6,6-4,6-3,7-6
2011 def. Andy Murray 6-4,6-2,6-3
2012 def. Rafael Nadal 5-7,6-4,6-2,6-7,7-5
2013 def. Andy Murray 6-7,7-6,6-3,6-2
2015 def. Andy Murray 7-6,6-7,6-3,6-0
2016 def. Andy Murray 6-1,7-5,7-6

**MURRAY IN AO FINALS**
2010 lost to Roger Federer 6-3,6-4,7-6
2011 lost to Novak Djokovic 6-4,6-2,6-3
2013 lost to Novak Djokovic 7-6,6-7,3-6,2-6
2015 lost to Novak Djokovic 6-7,7-6,3-6,0-6
2016 lost to Novak Djokovic 1-6,5-7,6-7

**DJOKOVIC vs. MURRAY IN GRAND SLAM FINALS**
2011 Australian Open - Djokovic 6-4,6-2,6-3
2012 U.S. Open - Murray 7-6,7-5,2-6,3-6,6-2
2013 Australian Open - Djokovic 6-7,7-6,6-3,6-2
2013 Wimbledon - Murray 6-4,7-5,6-4
2015 Australian Open - Djokovic 7-6,6-7,6-3,6-0
2016 Australian Open - Djokovic 6-1,7-5,7-6



All for now.

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posted by Todd.Spiker @ 5:55 PM 

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