Ricky Dimon

• World Tour Finals profile: No. 3 Novak Djokovic

  2009-11-19 16:08:20
  

  In the eight days leading up to the 2009 World Tour Finals, Ricky will individually preview this year’s eight qualifiers, starting with No. 8 and progressing toward No. 1. Up next is Novak Djokovic.

   

  It did not start well for Novak Djokovic….

   

  Perhaps slow to adjust to a racket change and perhaps weighed down by the expectations of having won both the Australian Open and the Masters Cup in 2008, Djokovic looked like a shadow of his former self throughout the first few months of 2009.

   

  He lost his first match of the season in Brisbane to Ernests Gulbis (yes, that Ernests Gulbis), was upset by Jarkko Nieminen in the Sydney semifinals, and retired from his Australian Open quarterfinal match against Andy Roddick. Djokovic took advantage of a favorable draw to win the Dubai title in late February, but he promptly got destroyed in two Davis Cup rubbers on the road at Spain, got blown out by Roddick in the Indian Wells quarters, and lost to Andy Murray in the Miami title match.

   

  While a loss to Murray in a Masters final is no shame, it confirmed that—at the time—Murray was racing past Djokovic both on the court and in the ATP rankings.

   

  Once the season turned to clay, however, Djokovic answered. His three clay-court Masters results were as follows: runner-up in Monte Carlo, runner-up in Rome, and semifinals in Madrid. Although he was stunned in the third round of the French Open, that was just the second—and last—time all year he was bounced from a tournament prior to the quarterfinals.

   

  It is that kind of consistency that allowed Djokovic to clinch a spot in the World Tour Finals with the utmost of ease.

   

  How He Got Here

   

  2009 record: 76-18
  
  Grand Slam performances: Australian Open QF, French Open R3, Wimbledon QF, U.S. Open SF

   

  Titles: Dubai, Belgrade, Beijing, Basel, Paris

   

  Runner-Ups: Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome, Halle, Cincinnati

   

  Key Wins

   

  Dubai F: d. David Ferrer 7-5, 6-3

  Miami SF: d. Roger Federer 3-6, 6-2, 6-3

  Rome SF: d. Roger Federer 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

  Cincinnati SF: d. Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4

  U.S. Open QF: d. Fernando Verdasco 7-6(2), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2

  Beijing F: d. Marin Cilic 6-2, 7-6(4)

  Basel F: d. Roger Federer 6-4, 4-6, 6-2

  Paris SF: d. Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-3

  Paris F: d. Gael Monfils 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3)

   

  Head-to-Head vs. other WTF participants

   

  vs. Roger Federer: 5-9 (4-7 on hard courts)

  vs. Rafael Nadal: 6-14 (6-3 on hard courts)

  vs. Andy Murray: 4-3 (3-3 on hard courts)

  vs. Juan Martin Del Potro: 3-0 (2-0 on hard courts)

  vs. Nikolay Davydenko: 2-2 (2-2 on hard courts)

  vs. Fernando Verdasco: 5-2 (3-1 on hard courts)

  vs. Robin Soderling: 5-0 (4-0 on hard courts)

   

  Outlook

   

  …But it ended like gangbusters.

   

  Having briefly slipped to No. 4 during the summer, Djokovic is currently playing like he is the best in the world. Three of his five titles in 2009 have come since the U.S. Open. To put it in exact terms, Djokovic won three titles (Beijing, Basel, and Paris) in a mere six weeks. In fact, the only match he has lost since the U.S. Open is a 6-4, 4-6, 6-7(1) thriller against an on-fire Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters.

   

  Perhaps even more important than being the best player in the world right now, Djokovic also appears to be the healthiest. The third-ranked Serb has no injuries to speak of, and he never retired from another match throughout the entirety of the regular season after his Aussie Open encounter with Roddick (interesting fact: only one other match in which Djokovic was involved this year ended in retirement by either player—French Open first round against Nicolas Lapentti).

   

  Djokovic might not have a complete cakewalk at the World Tour Finals, however, as he is in the “healthy” round-robin group. Nadal is far from his best but physically he is much better than he was during the summer, Davydenko is his typical rock-solid self, and an in-form Soderling replaced Roddick, who pulled out with a knee injury.

   

  So while Djokovic won’t get any free passes, he is still a huge favorite in Group B. The 22-year-old has manhandled Nadal in their last two meetings and is 5-0 lifetime against Soderling. Davydenko could present problems, as he did in Shanghai, but with two semifinal spots available out of each round-robin group, Djokovic should have nothing to worry about.

   

  Count on Djokovic sailing into the semifinals and he even has to be the odds-on favorite to win the whole thing.

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