Novak Djokovic-The Serbinator

Novak Djokovic shot to prominence in 2007 when he won six titles including two Master's Series events. He also made the semi-finals of two grand slam tournaments and the final of another at the US Open where he lost to Roger Federer. It was no surprise then when he won the first grand slam tournament of 2008 at the Australian Open, upsetting world number one Roger Federer in the semi-finals. At the other grand slams he reached the semi-finals accept for Wimbledon where he was upset by Marat Safin.

He also won two Masters Series events as well as the year end Tennis Masters Cup where the top eight players in the world get together at the end of the season. One of Djokovic's strengths is that he is one of few players who is very complete. He's got terrific groundstrokes, but also a good serve, solid volleys and fantastic return of serve. This means that he excels on all surfaces; clay, grass and hardcourts, something very few players are able to do. All these factors has made Djokovic a real force to be reckoned with.

He is now part of what is known as 'the big three' in tennis. The big three refers to the top three players in the world, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic himself. These three players have been dominating tennis for the last few years. The last time a player outside of these three won a grand slam event was in 2005 when Marat Safin won the Australian Open. Roger federer has won the most grand slam titles at 13, Rafael Nadal at 5 and Djokovic at 1.

Tennis used to be mainly about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and with Djokovic joining them tennis has become very interesting. Federer and Nadal know its not all one way traffic anymore with the Serbinator right on their heels. Already Djokovic has had some important wins againts Nadal an Federer in Masters Series events and of course the grand slam semi-final against Federer at the Australian Open. This is good for tennis because it keeps Federer and and Nadal honest.

Djokovic is still only 22 years old with a fantastic future ahead of him. He has had his critics along the way. People have accused him of wasting time between points, making injury excuses and being immature.This kind of critique is inevitable when you are at the top of the game though and Djokovic is still young. My personal feeling is that accusations don't carry much weight. At 22 a player is still basically a kid and it's not like tennis at pro level is all plain sailing.

In my mind Djokovic is fantastic for the game and he's a good sport and a nice guy. He needs to be given time to mature as both a player and a human being. If Djokovic becomes more mature on a mental level he will be an even bigger force to reckoned with. There is still times when he appears to be a little immature both and and off court, but like I said this can be forgiven given his age.If he can handle himself better on and off the court he will be an even bigger threat to Federer and Nadal.

As I'm writing this Djokovic is busy defending his Australian Open title. Against many people's expectations he is still in the tournament after a bad start to the year and looking good. Can he defend his title? Time will tell. Whatever the case may be I have the feeling we havn't seen the best of this huge talent from Serbia yet. If Djokovic can continue to mature and resist the pitfalls of professional tennis you can expect him to be a grand slam contender for at least the next 5 years.

Djokovic ended withdrawing in the quarter finals of the Australian Open against Andy Roddick due to heat exhaustion. That didn't come as much of a surprise as he was partying at home over the off season while Roddick was sweating it out to lose 15 pounds. In fact Djokovic has seemed like a different player ever since mid 2008. He just seemes less enthusiastic and that he isn't having as much fun as before.

After the Australian Open Djokovic played in Marseille where he lost in the semi-finals to Jo-Wilfred Tsonga for the fourth straight time. After that he would go on to win Dubai, but with most of the top players absent. Once again people felt he didn't prove much by winning Dubai, but a win is a win. After Dubai it was onto Davis Cup against Spain where he faced finla opponent from Dubai, Davis Ferrer and world nimber one Rafael Nadal.

It was played on clay in Spain and Djokovic lost both his single matches. Up next was the North American hard court season which included the two Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami. So there would be no avoiding top players this time. In Indian Wells Djokovic lost disappoitingly in a rematch of the Australian Open against Roddick. It was a lame performance and Djokovic has much to prove going into Miami.

There he would get one win back over Tsonga for a change in the quarter finals and in the semi-finals he had a decent win over tennis legend Roger Federer. I say decent because Federer was playing well below his best after he won the first set. In the final he came up against in form Andy Murray and lost 6-2, 7-5. So in the end he did well in Miami but in Indian Wells he disappointed.

Djokovic still doesn't look like the player he was last year and it's yet to be seen if he can find the same form. Andy Murray is closing in on him in the rankings and is expected to pass him during the clay court season where Djokovic have quite a few points to defend. He would have to have a very good clay court season to hold onto the number three ranking and Murray would have to play terrible.

After making the final in Miami, Djokovic seemed to have found a new gear. He followed it up with another final at Monte Carlo where he lost he three sets to Nadal. It seemed like Djokovic would be the number one challenger to Nadal in the clay court season. And when he beat Federer in the semi-finals of Rome to make another final against Nadal, that seemd even more true. He then went to his home country to take part in the first Serbian Open, where he won his second title of the year.

Then in Madrid he made the semif-finals where he lost for a third time to Nadal in a very tough match, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-7(9). Federer then went on to make the final and beat Nadal convincingly, 6-4, 6-4. This should have been a warning that the people who were saying Djokovic was the new number two on clay were wrong. Up till this point it was a very successful clay court season for Djokovic and it looked like the old Djokovic was back. But then Andy Murray passed him in the rankings.

And to top it off he went out in the third round of the French Open in a shock exit to Kohlschreiber. After the clay court season Djokovic was one of the favorites with Nadal and Federer for the title, so that was quite a disappointing loss. Federer went on to win the title, while Murray made quarter finals.The current world number five, Del Potro, made semi-finals and gave Federer a very tough match. Everyone thought the old Djokovic was back, but the third round loss at Roland Garros is making people doubt him again.

The future of Djokovic seems uncertain at this point. The grass court season and Wimbledon will be important for Djokovic to silence the critics once again. Del Potro is playing better all the time and Murray has already opened up a point gap between him and Djokovic in the rankings. He has the chance to gain some points at Wimbledon after losing in the second round there last year. I'd say he needs to make at least semi-finals to remind people he is still a force to be reckoned with...