Topic: Your Expectations For Djokovic in 2012

[Tennis4you]

nole is a monster:
 
1. he has his "movement of death"
 
2. his return is the best the world has ever seen
 
3. his backhand the best ever
 
 
i dont know how you beat this guy when he is in a zone.

while commenting during the wimbledon and US opens, Johnny Mac was full of praise for Novak's return game and his speed.

Novak's speed and defense was out the roof this year.  To do to Rafa and Fed what they do so well to others (defense into offense) is just plain silly.  And then to push them back with severe depth in your shots is just mind blowing.  That is what (at least to me) made Rafa look so out of place at times.  Seemed like Rafa was always trying to adjust to the depth that Novak hit and could not get enough offense going, and of course it was forcing him to hit shots shorter than he wanted to, allowing Novak to deliver even more pain.  Rafa makes everyone on tour look very uncomfortable with his style of game.  What he does to everyone Novak was doing to Rafa this year.  If Novak can keep it up and if  Rafa does not find they solution for next season is yet to be seen.  But to be watching it will be amazing!  Still have my fingers crossed for a 5 set FO final between the two!

[tennisfan78]

nole is a monster:
 
1. he has his "movement of death"
 
2. his return is the best the world has ever seen
 
3. his backhand the best ever
 
 
i dont know how you beat this guy when he is in a zone.

while commenting during the wimbledon and US opens, Johnny Mac was full of praise for Novak's return game and his speed.

Novak's speed and defense was out the roof this year.  To do to Rafa and Fed what they do so well to others (defense into offense) is just plain silly.  And then to push them back with severe depth in your shots is just mind blowing.  That is what (at least to me) made Rafa look so out of place at times.  Seemed like Rafa was always trying to adjust to the depth that Novak hit and could not get enough offense going, and of course it was forcing him to hit shots shorter than he wanted to, allowing Novak to deliver even more pain.  Rafa makes everyone on tour look very uncomfortable with his style of game.  What he does to everyone Novak was doing to Rafa this year.  If Novak can keep it up and if  Rafa does not find they solution for next season is yet to be seen.  But to be watching it will be amazing!  Still have my fingers crossed for a 5 set FO final between the two!

It would be awesome to have them play the french open final. I hope it happens with both players playing their best tennis, now that would be a match to remember!!

[Tennis4you]

nole is a monster:
 
1. he has his "movement of death"
 
2. his return is the best the world has ever seen
 
3. his backhand the best ever
 
 
i dont know how you beat this guy when he is in a zone.

while commenting during the wimbledon and US opens, Johnny Mac was full of praise for Novak's return game and his speed.

Novak's speed and defense was out the roof this year.  To do to Rafa and Fed what they do so well to others (defense into offense) is just plain silly.  And then to push them back with severe depth in your shots is just mind blowing.  That is what (at least to me) made Rafa look so out of place at times.  Seemed like Rafa was always trying to adjust to the depth that Novak hit and could not get enough offense going, and of course it was forcing him to hit shots shorter than he wanted to, allowing Novak to deliver even more pain.  Rafa makes everyone on tour look very uncomfortable with his style of game.  What he does to everyone Novak was doing to Rafa this year.  If Novak can keep it up and if  Rafa does not find they solution for next season is yet to be seen.  But to be watching it will be amazing!  Still have my fingers crossed for a 5 set FO final between the two!

It would be awesome to have them play the french open final. I hope it happens with both players playing their best tennis, now that would be a match to remember!!

Hell yes!  It gives me a reason to think tennis on clay could be exciting!

[monstertruck]

Back to the Original Post.
I hope Djokovic continues his great play and with good health.
I did enjoy his dominance (even though I called him a punk to myself a few times    ).

I'm going to be truthful here: I loved him taking down Nadal, things were boring with always Nadal and Fed, we needed something interesting and unexpected. My boy Del Potro didn't do much so the diversion I needed ND gave.

I want now to see Nadal's response and how Djokovic does next year, he should keep #1 for a long time.

Once Djokovic got his health together with his diet changes, along with his big improvement in serve, everything clicked for him this year. And Rafa's game played straight into Djokers strength, his backhand.  Rafa's got used to running around his backhand and force the issue with his forehand, that worked against everyone excepting Djokovic. Nole, can crack winners off that side both cross court and down the line. It would be interesting to see what tactical changes Rafa makes next time they meet.

His DTL BH is just plain sick.  He uses Raf's pace, adds a few klicks, and then redirects it DTL stealing time and space.

Pace and Rafa's shots??? He doesn't have the depth in his shots. That is the reason why Nole is able to attack it.

When it drops short he cranks it.
When Raf drives it and he's in position, he cranks it.
When he's in position, it doesn't matter what Nadal (or any other player) does with the ball.

[monstertruck]

nole is a monster:
 
1. he has his "movement of death"
 
2. his return is the best the world has ever seen
 
3. his backhand the best ever
 
 
i dont know how you beat this guy when he is in a zone.

You like Raf's return better than Agassi or Jimbo?

[Start da Game]

i think this is true......targeting better fitness instead of targeting tournaments might do the trick for djokovic next year......if he conditions himself to peak fitness, he will maximize his chances automatically.......we know he has the game to take it to anybody but maybe nadal in peak form.......

His prority in 2012 are only things, prevent from injure and manage his schedule.

[Start da Game]

nole is a monster:
 
1. he has his "movement of death"
 
2. his return is the best the world has ever seen
 
3. his backhand the best ever
 
 
i dont know how you beat this guy when he is in a zone.

You like Raf's return better than Agassi or Jimbo?

nadal can take him down.......the trick lies in depth.......nadal's backhand crosscourt has to start working again like in 2010.......that one shot neutralizes a lot of what djokovic does on the court these days.......first it pushes djoker back and he can't hit a winning shot from there, nadal has the footspeed to take control from there.......i also think nadal dropped his fitness after 2010 and it affected his movement severely against djokovic........

[hercules]

clay warrior got a little complacent after 2010. he had 2 reasons to be complacent:
 
1. he took home 3 slams on 3 completley different surfaces. he had to have felt unbeatable at that point. most all time greats have that feeling. just ask sampras and he will tell you. samras has said that he knew he was going to dominate them on grass at wimby and on hard courts. so nadal called the dogs off. he didnt think there was anybody out there who could really deal with him in slams.
 
2. by extension, he also dropped his supreme fitness after 2010. again some of it has to do with complacency.
 
 
he has also been winning slams since he was a teenager. and he has been doing it all with the most demanding style of play on the planet.
 
he felt a little weary both mentally and physically.
 
and all the while, the world was trying had to catch him. they succeeded. fed and murray improved and nole made dramatic improvements in his fitness and his diet.
 
you know the rest of the story.

[swish]

If Djokovic comes into the season rested he'll have less than 10 losses again.
He's at an age where his movement should be there for a few more years.

Everything else will come from that movement, he'll be in position most of the time.
His endurance problems are of the past and that was one of his weaknesses.

With experience being at the top he should be even more relaxed in tight situations.
As long as his girlfriend doesn't derail him he'll be fine, as everyone knows, a woman can be a major problem. 

[hercules]

i am expecting d-pot to be a factor again in 2012.

[swish]

i am expecting d-pot to be a factor again in 2012.

I hope so CD, the guys got potential but lately I've seen some sort of dedication problems.
 
Could be wrong but he's under the microscope by many and it could turn ugly in not too long unless he performs.
 

[FedFanForever]

I hope so CD, the guys got potential but lately I've seen some sort of dedication problems.
 
Could be wrong but he's under the microscope by many and it could turn ugly in not too long unless he performs.

D-Pot sure likes his Argentinian steak! 

[hercules]

d-pot needs to put in some major time on clay---practice and match play. his game needs clay to become a more well-rounded player and also to develop a machine like consistency.
 
he could be the next french open champion when the clay warrior has finished his work there.

[tennisfan78]

d-pot needs to put in some major time on clay---practice and match play. his game needs clay to become a more well-rounded player and also to develop a machine like consistency.
 
he could be the next french open champion when the clay warrior has finished his work there.

delpo almost knocked Fed off at the French Open semifinal in 2009. After coming back from injury, he wasnt able to reach that 2009 US Open form yet. Although, I thought he played a pretty good match against Rafa at the Wimbledon this year.  I hope he gets back to his top form next year. The other thing I like about him is that he is fearless of the opponent. No matter who is on the other side of the net, he tries to play his best and never gives up easily.

[hercules]

affirmative.
 
d-pot has major game on clay.

[pawan89]

affirmative.
 
d-pot has major game on clay.

Clay might very well be his best chance because of the time he gets to wind up his forehand and smash it. We have seen Soderling do really well and of course Del Pot himself, as mentioned earlier, almost took out Fed. the only way to defeat him would be to take his time away which is hard to do or outlast him which might seem to be the easier option.

[hercules]

d-pot showed me what he can do on clay today. the guy has it what it takes to be great on this surface. i have noticed that he is also not afraid to go forward. transition game is slowly getting better. he is not too shabby at the net. he made most all of the volleys he got his racquet on.
 
depending on the draw and good health, i can see this guy in a roland garros final one day.

[monstertruck]

d-pot showed me what he can do on clay today. the guy has it what it takes to be great on this surface. i have noticed that he is also not afraid to go forward. transition game is slowly getting better. he is not too shabby at the net. he made most all of the volleys he got his racquet on.
 
depending on the draw and good health, i can see this guy in a roland garros final one day.

[Tennis4you]

affirmative.
 
d-pot has major game on clay.

Clay might very well be his best chance because of the time he gets to wind up his forehand and smash it. We have seen Soderling do really well and of course Del Pot himself, as mentioned earlier, almost took out Fed. the only way to defeat him would be to take his time away which is hard to do or outlast him which might seem to be the easier option.

And of course being so tall, the higher Nadal shots do not bother him as bad.  Helpful on the clay!

[hercules]

affirmative.  also having such massive levers means so much easy power off both wings.
 
brute force that comes easy.