because I love sports and want to fangirl, of course

41 wins to start off the professional tennis season. One slam title, 4 Masters 1000 titles, 2 other tournament titles. Unfortunately the streak had to end today. Semifinals at the French Open, where he hasn’t been farther. At least someone like Roger Federer ended the streak, and not like last year’s Djokovic-beater Jurgen Melzer. No offense to Jurgen, but the streak was meant to be broken by an all-time great. It had the feeling of fate/destiny written all over it.

I started following Novak Djokovic when he made his first appearance on my TV in the year 2006. He had just defeated Fernando Gonzales, the 9th seed, in the second round. He would eventually reach the quarter-finals and lose to Rafael Nadal. I believe this was the year where he had the famous quote that despite his retirement/loss, he said he had been “in control of the match”. I actually have never verified whether he said this in actuality. It got him his first set of haters, though.

In 2006 I was distracted by the World Cup. I was also supporting Mario Ancic’s rise into the top 10, but I fell in love quickly with the Serbian. Mario beat Novak at Wimbledon in the 4th round, lost to Roger Federer in the quarters, and then got himself injured jet-skiing. That guy was so unlucky with illnesses and injuries… Anyway, I didn’t remember that Novak lost in the 3rd round of the US Open in 2006 to Lleyton Hewitt. All I remember was 2007, he broke into the top 3, got to the final of the U.S. Open, and ever since has been pretty awesome 🙂

He doesn’t beat people necessarily with speed or with power but with a lot of both, and a little bit of touch (aka drop-shot, not so much the volley). He is probably the most flexible guy on tour (Gael Monfils would be the closest contender, at least of people that I’ve seen play). He is a smart guy and anticipates well, plays with a purpose, makes the court seem extremely small. He has the best return of serve in the game. He figured out his allergy issues, helped his country win Davis Cup last December, and began this streak.

Roger Federer, coined the “Greatest of All Time” by so many people, has never started the season as hot as Novak did. He managed to lose on the clay at some point. Novak is both a great hard-court and clay-court player. Sometimes I see these comments about Novak being “primarily a hard-court player” but his first quarterfinal and semifinal at a slam were at Roland Garros. He broke through at Australia because that’s the best tournament to catch everyone off guard with improved fitness and mental freshness. The U.S. Open used to be the Achilles’ heel for Rafael Nadal before last year, when he finally won it. Novak doesn’t like the surface to be too fast, where his defensive skills can’t force the opponent to hit as many extra shots, nor does he want it to be very slippery where he can’t control his movement. Since the grass seems to be getting less slippery at Wimbledon, Novak might have a good chance there. I think he still has the confidence. He’s made the semifinals there. He can do it again, and maybe take it further.

Novak hasn’t reached #1 officially in the rankings yet because of Rafael’s incredible year last year and very solid year this year. Rafa has had the second best start to the year. He can prevent Novak from reaching #1 on Monday by winning on Sunday. Yes, I know how much reaching #1 would mean to Novak and how it would silence so many of his critics. Yet the streak is worthy for a man who gives Serbia so much hope, who has forced people who are Federer or Nadal stans (or Fedal people) to recognize that there’s another guy who is willing to go after some history. If he never wins another match, I will still find this streak impressive and memorable.  Novak has already given so much for his country, for his fans, for the sport of tennis. Of course he is not finished, but I hope he can at some point sit down, relax, and think about the fact that he is indeed that awesome with confidence that isn’t arrogant because he is just that awesome 🙂 They might have said it was “cocky” to believe, to think you are going to win and win and win, but how many people have created things they haven’t thought about before? Dream/Believe/Strut on, Novak!