Tennis season is just about to kick off. I reckon it’s going to be novaks year. He will be looking to complete the grand slam by winning the french open. Can’t see anyone competing with him except maybe nadal but that’s only if he can stay injury free but even then I think Djokovic has his number.
Unfortunately Roger won’t be as competitive this year as he was last year. He will still win a few atp events but the 5 set grand slam competitions will be a step too far for him especially if he gets a long match in the early rounds.
Murray for me is still behind Djokovic and nadal but can take them on his day.
Hard to tell on Wawrinka, he is capable on his day but I think he is still mentally weak and when the pressure from the big guys comes on he will be found wilting.
I hope dimitrov can step it up this year and make an impact.
Not so sure about Novak dominating. He’s certainly the World Number 1 at the moment but with Stan winning in Australia last year, Cilic in New York and the likes of Dimitrov and Nishkiori making big strides, could be facing into a period of flux like you had from 2001-04 as the Sampras/Agassi era faded out and before Federer/Nadal emerged.
I don’t know about Stan, he faded a good bit after he won in Australia. I would gave expected him to kick on after that win. Cilic I’m not expecting much off, yes he will cause an upset but he doesn’t have the hunger if the top guys. I think Stan lacks the hunger as well. I think both if this players especially Cilic are happy with their slam.
Djokovic I feel wants to dominate, he wants to be spoken off like Federer and nadal. He can dominate but he needs to get more clinical in key matches and not have the mental breakdowns he has had when in top in games.
Dimitrov really needs to step up especially with Nishkiori getting to a slam final. Dimitrov has more potential than Cilic and Nishkiori, it just doesn’t look like he 3 ants to be a top player. I can’t see Nishkiori making much more of an impact I think he has reached his level. He will be dangerous and you don’t want to see him in your half of the draw.
David Ferrer beat Fabio Fognini in straight sets in the final of the Rio Open. Nadal suffered a surprise defeat on the clay to Fognini in the semi final, the first time he’s ever lost to the Italian.
I watched the highlights of the Nadal/Fogini match and towards the end Nadal was up to his usual tricks of being injured or having cramps. Nadal was also moaning because his match started late the night before. Has Nadal ever been beaten where he hasn’t had some sort of injury or was moaning about one thing or another?
I think this was the first semi final that Nadal has lost on clay in 12 years.
Indian Wells and Miami are the next big tournaments before the clay season starts. Be interesting to see how he does, usually Indian Wells do everything to cater for Nadals game because he is bessie mates with the tournament director. They even slowed the courts down for him.
Great to James McGee get a wild card into the Dubai Open. If he wins his first round match he could have a possible second round match against Andy Muarry.
UPDATE
James McGee has lost 2 zip to his Portuguese opponent. He will still take home a paycheck of 15 grand for his afternoons work. Not clear on the currency, potentially US Dollars (US$).
Great stuff from Roger today to beat Novak 6-3 7-5 in the Dubai final. He really served well. Problem is though, pushing 34, he’s not able to sustain that level for more than two sets.
Think we are heading into a period of Djokovic dominance as the other top 5 or 6 players are not at his level. Unfortunately for Federer time is catching up on him and he is endurance in matches is starting to go down as we seen over the last year or so.
Nadal might be the one to put up some resistance to djokovic but that’s only if he can stay fit and at moment his fitness levels are not at the same level as Djokovic or Murray. As seen this week where he keput fading half way through the second set.
Murray is just not at the level of the other 3. The loss of lendl as his coach is a huge blow. I think if lendl was still with him he would be challenging djokovic.
The rest of the top 10 or 20 might pull off a shock here and there but mainly I see most tournaments being fought put between djokovic, Murray, Federer and nadal if he can get his fitness up. With djokovic winning most of the tournaments.
[QUOTE=“tazdedub, post: 1111338, member: 312”]Think we are heading into a period of Djokovic dominance as the other top 5 or 6 players are not at his level. Unfortunately for Federer time is catching up on him and he is endurance in matches is starting to go down as we seen over the last year or so.
Nadal might be the one to put up some resistance to djokovic but that’s only if he can stay fit and at moment his fitness levels are not at the same level as Djokovic or Murray. As seen this week where he keput fading half way through the second set.
Murray is just not at the level of the other 3. The loss of lendl as his coach is a huge blow. I think if lendl was still with him he would be challenging djokovic.
The rest of the top 10 or 20 might pull off a shock here and there but mainly I see most tournaments being fought put between djokovic, Murray, Federer and nadal if he can get his fitness up. With djokovic winning most of the tournaments.[/QUOTE]
I would make Novak a very strong favourite for Roland Garros. If he does become the first man to win the first two legs of the Grand Slam in 23 years, he could have every chance of pulling it off. Jim Courier in 1992 and indeed Mats Wilander in 1988 didn’t have the grass court game to win the Championship.
Murray v Berdych & Djokovic v Isner the semi final line up in Miami.
Another horrific outing for Nadal. Crashing out early to Fernando Verdasco. Bar waking up for the last 4-5 days of last year’s French Open, his form (when playing) has been very poor for a good 18 months.
