100 Weeks at #1 for Nole

[GameSetAndMath]

Just a celebratory thread for Novak's achievement of 100 weeks at #1. Although
there have been many #1s in ATP, only nine of them have managed to stay No. 1 for
100 weeks (not necessarily consecutively). Novak is a new member of this club.
Read about it in

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/09/38/Djokovic-100-Weeks-At-No-1.aspx

 

[Kieran]

:clap :clap :clap

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Glad, Nadal decided to let him have this achievement before usurping him.

 

[Riotbeard]

And Novak will get it back. I have no doubt.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I am sure Novak will have another stint at #1. But, it won't happen this year.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Century mark.
Great achievement.

He is the ninth player in ATP World Tour history to reach the milestone, joining Andre Agassi (101 weeks), Rafael Nadal (102), Bjorn Borg (109), John McEnroe (170), Jimmy Connors (268), Ivan Lendl (270), Pete Sampras (286) and record holder Roger Federer (302).

Very exclusive club indeed!

Seems like Nole will pass a few more names on that list...

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Moxie]

Congratulations to Nole! It really is amazing that 3 guys on that list are from this era. And, yes, RB, I'm sure he'll get it back.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Good job Nole.

 

[zalvar]

Congrats to Novak! He gives me the most heart attacks out of everyone but this is a great achievement.

 

[Iona16]

Congrats to Novak. That is quite an achievement. clap

 

[NADAL2005RG]

Its better than nothing :clap

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

yay..100 wks at world no 1 rank for Serbia's finest.

djokovic will defo reach 101wks next Monday sept 30th, then its "the battle of Beijing"

no matter what djokovic does at that china open (atp500)..if nadal reaches the SF then rafa/wafa will take over as world no1 on Monday oct 7th 2013.

if that happens djokovic will be stationary on 101wks and nadal will start week 103 as world no1. :idea:

(if you lot have not seen it yet there is a celebratory article on atp tour site about his 100wks, with info about the points vs round reached when they both play china open next week.)

 

[Front242]

Its better than nothing :clap

Better than nothing indeed. He'll hit 101 weeks by a week from now which will be just 1 week shy of Nadal who has 102 weeks. So indeed it's better than nothing.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/08/34/Battle-For-No-1-Nadal-Leads.aspx

 

[huntingyou]

He will get 200+ weeks when everything it's said and done


on another note......what's wafa doing playing indoors in China? He better sent a "sick" card to the organizers.

 

[El Dude]

I don't know about 200, huntingyou. I mean its definitely do-able, and given the relatively weak talent of the under-25 generation his decline will be softened. But it might be difficult to maintain the #1 ranking for a long period of time going forward. I expect him and Nadal to pass it back and forth, and maybe even Andy to take it for awhile.

But consider that Rafa is probably going to hold it deep into next year - certainly through the AO, for which he has no points to defend, and then you've got clay season. Maybe until Wimbledon? That would be half the year and Novak would be 27 years old and stuck on 101. How's he going to get two full years at #1?

My guess is that he and Rafa end up somewhere in the 140-180 range. But 200 seems unlikely for either player.

 

[DarthFed]

Djokovic shouldn't be worried about the #1 rank anytime soon. For him it is about becoming relevant in the big events again. Right now he is just the chump getting stomped on in every GS final. Growing a knack for playing bad tennis in the big moments is something that is tough to overturn. The #1 rank follows after winning the big events. Nadal this year is a good example of that.

 

[El Dude]

DarthFed, I don't think its fair to say that Djokovic isn't relevant in the big events. Sure, he's only won the AO in each of the last two years, but that's not nothing. Plus, the simple fact that he's there in most finals is also very telling. He's just been unfortunate to face the hottest player in the game in the finals. Look at his last three Slam losses:

Roland Garros (SF): lost to the greatest clay court player ever, and only by a hair
Wimbledon (F): The magic was just with Andy. Novak seemed tired after a grueling defeat of Del Potro
US Open (F): Nadal is playing his best tennis, so what can Novak do?

If anything, the one warning sign for Novak is that his endurance seems to have dropped a fraction. I first noticed this at Wimbledon - the one long five-setter vs. Del Potro was one thing, but he couldn't do it two matches in a row and looked tired and off his game against Murray in the final. Novak of even a year ago would have been able to pull something extra out of the tank.

But if I were to bet on which player would make the most Finals next year, it would be Novak. He's a horse.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

Its a bit like Hingis. She won 3 slams in 1997, and after that didn't win any other slams apart from the AO 1998, AO 1999, and actually made 6 AO finals in a row (and lost some USO and FO finals). She also racked up plenty of weeks at #1.

 

[Kieran]

I don't think Novak was so knackered after his match against del Potro - I think it was a mental fortitude issue. He was ahead in each set and he deferred. And this is what Darth is saying: Nole was bullet-proof, but only for a while. It ended at Oz in 2012 and since then he hasn't been able to muster similar resistance consistently enough. He went down too easy to Federer at Wimbledon in 2012, and he didn't rally much scrap against Murray at Wimbledon this year...

 

[DarthFed]

DarthFed, I don't think its fair to say that Djokovic isn't relevant in the big events. Sure, he's only won the AO in each of the last two years, but that's not nothing. Plus, the simple fact that he's there in most finals is also very telling. He's just been unfortunate to face the hottest player in the game in the finals. Look at his last three Slam losses:

Roland Garros (SF): lost to the greatest clay court player ever, and only by a hair
Wimbledon (F): The magic was just with Andy. Novak seemed tired after a grueling defeat of Del Potro
US Open (F): Nadal is playing his best tennis, so what can Novak do?

If anything, the one warning sign for Novak is that his endurance seems to have dropped a fraction. I first noticed this at Wimbledon - the one long five-setter vs. Del Potro was one thing, but he couldn't do it two matches in a row and looked tired and off his game against Murray in the final. Novak of even a year ago would have been able to pull something extra out of the tank.

But if I were to bet on which player would make the most Finals next year, it would be Novak. He's a horse.

RG was pretty up and down and featured a 5th set collapse but that is understandable and he did fight hard to make it a match. But the last 3 slams of 2012, and the last 2 slams of this year featured dismal performances from him and he mostly went down without a fight.

Murray played a good match at Wimbledon but he was far from unplayable, Nole had leads in the 2nd and 3rd set and then disappeared. At USO, you say what can Nole do against Nadal :huh: This is hardcourts we are talking, if Nole doesn't completely go haywire at the end of the 3rd it might be a different outcome, and then we saw him literally just go away in the 4th set. Losing to Nadal on hard courts is not some quality loss, especially for Novak.