Who knows if these meetings will become a regular event? Is Djokovic making a push to be in the top 2? As the defending champ, Djokovic actually has to win in Dubai to keep his points while Federer skipped Dubai last year due to an illness and only stands to gain points. Nonetheless, it says
Sometimes you watch a pro, and you see the way they plan to win. Other times, you wonder, how do they do it? Let's look at the number 1 and 2 in the world. How does Rafa win? Rafa wins with speed, precise hitting leading to instant offense, great shots on defense, and tenacity. Most
It was last year after a semifinal win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga during a post-match interview with Jim Courier that Roger Federer said "I know he'd like to win a first for British tennis in, what is it? 150,000 years?". It was a light-hearted moment that was, nonetheless, a dig at his opponent, one that he
Roger and Rafa have made many players' lives miserable. That is, if you feel the best of the best should win Slam titles. The 2008 Australian Open was the last Slam that didn't have either Roger or Rafa in the final. Roger lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Roger had had mono and was
It's well-known that the seedings prevent number 1 and number 2 from meeting each other until the final. What's not as well known, because people often neglect non-favorites, is that number 3 and number 4 can also not meet each other in the final. With Federer and Nadal being so dominant, usually one or the
If you looked at the form of the players the last 2-3 months, Federer was the man. He won Stockholm. He won Basel. He won the year-end championship without dropping a match. This included a defeat of his main rival, Rafael Nadal. He started the year playing well, winning Doha over Davydenko. Nadal ended last
Everyone loves to do it, but it really doesn't make sense. Back in December, people were asked "make predictions who will win the Slams in 2011". You never know which player will come out of nowhere to make an impression. If you were to ask, at the end of 2008, who would win the Slams
Sometimes those big victories resonate in the mind more. Tomas Berdych beat Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of Wimbledon to reach his first final. People forget that Berdych and Djokovic met twice more that year with Djokovic winning both encounters (Davis Cup and the round robin at the ATP World Tour Finals). Much like Wawrinka
As we head into the second week of play, the top seeds continue to win. There's a decent chance that the top 8 seeds may reach the quarterfinals. The first player to finish his match at the bottom half of the draw was Novak Djokovic. He continues to have one of his easier runs to
In a surprise move, Viktor Troicki retired after losing 6-2 in the first set after an abdominal strain. I'm sure someone is likely to suggest that this might have been "arranged" so Djokovic would not tire himself early on, at least in hushed whispers. In any case, Djokovic is the first player to reach the
