He's currently unbeaten in 2011 (24-0) and just beat Nadal in the Sony Ericsson Open. Only 23 years old, passed Federer as the 2nd seed and is expanding his game from a baseline rally-er to someone who hits more drop shots and winners. He has a great sports personality to boot. Tennis fans... are we entering the Novak era? Can he keep it up on grass?
He's definitely been hot lately, and this is the second tournament he's beaten Nadal in. It seems like he's expanding his game, and smoothing out the rough edges on other parts of his that should have always been his strength.
someone needs to take over I was getting tired of Rafa and Roger in the finals all the time. Everyone seems to love just these two headed rivalries; I think its boring when the rest of the field is trash
I saw him play Federer in person this year... it felt more like Federer was hitting the ball meekly as opposed to Novak overpowering him. Novak has beaten him 3 times this year - a lot of it has to do with Federer just falling off. Novak is playing a more cerebral brand of tennis that lulls his opponent into feeling flat footed, then uses drop shots or his accuracy to finish them off. His power isn't up there with Soderling, Nadal, Tsonga or Monfils IMO.
big tennis fan... fact till remains...and I hate simplifying like this ... because I love tennis soooo freaking much....but until you win Wimbledon...nothing matters in terms of player history. Hard courts are not enough.
this. i can't say i'm really paying much attention, but djokovic has always had the talent he just wasn't very consistent. good to see him putting it all together.
I'm a Rafa fan, luckily the upcoming red dust will cool Djokovic off, nonetheless, he is clearly Nadal's new challenger. He has been clearing his act as of late but he didn't have that ideal "sports personality" you refer to.
I love watching Monfils play -- he's like the Jon Bones Jones of the tennis world -- he has such a free form style it's a blast to watch. That style of tennis is still probably a generation away from domination, but it will be the future.
Exactly, an absolute freak of nature... he cranks some of the most vicious forehands I've ever seen on the circuit. Classic example of Monfils' other-worldly talents: <iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rLiRoGFil6w" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="640"></iframe>
Can't stand him. The dude has always had all the talent in the world. He was just weak mentally. We'll see he handles a little rough patch. He reminds me of Safin except Safin was much more likeable.
Terrible tactician on the tennis court. Always plays 10 feet behind the baseline, though he can create winners from back there, no one can consistently win from 10 feet behind the baseline. I want to like Gael, but he is mentally weak. He has the talent to compete with the big 3 in men's tennis, but until he learns to play offensively, instead of always playing defensively, he'll never win consistently.
I don't know much about him but I would like to see him and Andy Murray end the Federer-Nadal monopoly in men's tennis.
I've been out of watching professional tennis for so long so I don't know these players. That Monfils guy really had a knack for getting the ball back, but some of those overheads were weak and VERY poorly placed. You have easy overheads like that you slam it so hard into the court that it bounces into the stands. The attacker deserved to lose those points.
