I have never felt that he is genuine. There is no doubt he is an amazing personality for the game (think US Open impressions), so you'd think players would love him...right?
Personally, I've never really heard of a player liking him (most countrymen are included.) Novak has had known feuds with Fed and Nadal...along with a public feud with Roddick (leading to him being booed out of Arthur Ashe Stadium).
Novak had been calling for injury timeouts, and numerous aches and pains after, and during his match with Tommy Robredo.
Not only did Robredo question Novak's sincerity after the match, but Roddick joked (as only he can) about Novak having leg pain, arm pain, a hurt back, SARS, and even the Bird Flu. Novak got all bent out of shape about it, and after beating A-Rod, accused the crowd and Roddick of not believing him. This is what got the boos going.
I also spoke to an ATP Tour stringer a while ago who said that out of all the players he worked with, Novak seemed to be the most ungrateful, and had the biggest ego.
My message to Novak is if you can't take it don't give it.
Now that my tangent is over, back to his tennis. There is no doubt that he is an incredible player and talent. After winning the Aussie Open, he seemed ready to overtake Rafa as #2. After being within one win of passing Rafa twice, (and losing both), he seemed to slip a bit. He comes into Shanghai with an 0-3 lifetime record at the Master's Cup after his tired performance last year.
His game is sure good enough, but physically he seemed to get beat up at the end of the year. He hasn't been doing all that well recently, which might be a blessing for him, giving him more rest than usual. He is also in the wide open Gold Group (with Del Potro, Tsonga,and Davydenko.)
If Novak finds his Aussie form, he'll waltz into the semis. If he doesn't, he could very well lose all three matches again.
The one thing you always have to give Novak is that he believes in himself and is very mentally tough. Something tells me his 0-3 showing last year got circled on his calendar for last this year.
SEE YOU TOMORROW WITH DAVYDENKO'S PREVIEW.
Posts
5 comments:
Novak is an ass, but if he can pull it all together, he has a chance to win the whole thing.
Thanks for the clear answer. I can appreciate Novak's determination on the court. But you are so right about the way he has acted in the past. I like your honesty....
I love Novak, he is just all business on the court. Whatever he has to do to win, there is a lot of money on the line.
Djokovic does not have a very good doubles ranking. How can he be so good at singles and not at doubles?
Anonymous...Good question..About your comment about doubles...the thing with doubles is, there is no substitute for playing. Novak doesn't play all the Slams in doubles, and plays here and there during the ATP season...so it's not so much that he's not good...it's more that he doesn't play.
A good proof of just how good the top singles players can be in doubles if they place more emphasis on it was Fed and Wawrinka winning Olympic Gold in doubles. They are two very good(top 10) singles players who don't place much emphasis on doubles normally, yet beat the Bryans, who do nothing but doubles.
No doubt in my mind that Novak could be top 5 in doubles if he wants to.
Thanks for your question.
Post a Comment