Djokovic retaining/regaining #1

[Jelenafan]

They aren't benefiting at all from taking time off. Nadal's points tally has been accrued since he came back. He'll only rise to number one based on that alone.

You see the obvious problem; Nole can only maintain since he won so much last season, while Rafa has no points to defend! It's just not the same playing field! Losing in the 1st or 2nd round only hurts one of them from here on out! Not likely, but Nole's been sloppy about finishing off opponents; esp. Rafa when in a position to close a set or match out!

Yet the same 12 months are used for all the players so I don't see how it's not fair. It's not as if they are using different calender years. It's the points gathered year to date for both players. What hurt Nole more than anything isn't the points sliding off, it's that he hasn't won a tournament in months.

 

[Jelenafan]

Any player reaching 11 finals, winning 10 tournaments and 2 majors within 7 months is going to have a legitimate crack at reaching #1 within 8 or 9 months. The only way to counteract that is to win tournaments also, which was the road to hoe for Nole. To put it in perspective, if he had beaten Rafa at the FO and gone on to win the title, he pretty much would have sealed the YE top ranking. That would have been like a 2000 point swing, then nobody would even be mentioning about how Nole would need to defend so much in the fall. He would have had a good cushion. He could have stayed #1 wining 2 Majors and maybe 6 other tournaments for the year, including only one Masters.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

Ho..and indeed Hum, one thing is a 99% reality,

by the start of feb 2014 we will have had exactly 10yrs of 'FEDALOVIC' at world no 1 rank.

from sometime in 1974 to sept 1988..we also had a few players monopolising the summit of the world rank charts..CONNORS-BORG-MCENROE-LENDL.

 

[Fiero425]

Ho..and indeed Hum, one thing is a 99% reality,

By the start of Feb '14, we will have had exactly 10 yrs of 'FEDALOVIC' at world !1 rank.

From sometime in '74 to Sept '88, we also had a few players monopolizing the summit of the world rank charts. -CONNORS-BORG-MCENROE-LENDL.

In the time between then and now, Sampras was a prevalent and constant at #1, but it was a more diverse list of "also-rans;" too many to count! IIRC, even Haas may have reached #2 for a hot minute!

 

[Jelenafan]

Another relevant question , in the last 10 years how many players have occupied the #2 ranking:

Nadal, Federer, Djokoivc and Murray, any others, Perhaps in 04/05 I'm guessing Roddick or SAfin, but other than that, I can't think of anyone else...

 

[britbox]

They aren't benefiting at all from taking time off. Nadal's points tally has been accrued since he came back. He'll only rise to number one based on that alone.

You see the obvious problem; Nole can only maintain since he won so much last season, while Rafa has no points to defend! It's just not the same playing field! Losing in the 1st or 2nd round only hurts one of them from here on out! Not likely, but Nole's been sloppy about finishing off opponents; esp. Rafa when in a position to close a set or match out!

It's not a problem, because it's an exact level playing field. Novak's issue on losing the number one won't be because of defending points here... it will be because of points he's dropped throughout the year. It just happens he will lose it here. On the flipside, it's clear Nadal has been the best player in the world for last 6 months or so and it's coming full circle.

 

[zalvar]

I think Djokovic lost a little bit of focus after the French loss. It was his main goal this year and, with him failing at it, he lost his path a little. If he defends the tour finals and if Serbia wins the Davis Cup, I feel like he can ride the wave and do an 2011-ish run. (god i hope not BAHA.)

As far as the number 1 ranking, it seems that, if Rafa performs decently in these last few tournaments, the 3000 pts lead will be enough to carry him to number one by the end of the year. He will take over number 1 eventually and will hold it till about Miami and most of the clay season. Then he'll have to defend all those clay stuff ... at least he'll have a buffer from Wimbledon.

Ps. Novak is looking to do a 4-pete in the Aussie Open next year. Kinda exciting for him.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Nadal didn't "benefit" from his time off in terms of ranking points. If he wasn't injured last year, and had the same results this year, he would have become world number 1 a while ago.

 

[Jelenafan]

Agreed: Because of Nadal's absence on the tour for 7 months it's actually taking him longer to get to #1 based upon his actual results, ie 11 finals, 10 tournament wins and 2 Majors. If he had been playing before MArch and had at least a handful of computer points he would be on top.

So being absent for so many months "penalized" Nadal initially. It evens out in the end once a full 12 months of activity for Nadal is plugged in, but the perception doesn't match the reality because it's a sliding computer ranking.

 

[masterclass]

Gulbis: "For instance Djokovic. I have known him since I was 12. Back then he was a normal guy, but since he got to the top of the rankings, he has changed as a person.
You can see it in his eyes, they have a different look to them"

Saw this at MTF....

Respectfully,
masterclass

 

[Front242]

That's harsh man. ROFL!

 

[Fiero425]

Another relevant question , in the last 10 years how many players have occupied the #2 ranking:

Nadal, Federer, Djokoivc and Murray, any others, Perhaps in 04/05 I'm guessing Roddick or SAfin, but other than that, I can't think of anyone else...

Safin had so much talent! It's a shame he was such a head case! Like Ilie Nastase in the previous era, he probably had every shot in the book and could embarrass the best of them! Unfortunately he embarrassed himself more with his lack of self control! At least he won 2 majors and s/b a lock for the HOF! :clap :clap :clap

 

[Front242]

Another relevant question , in the last 10 years how many players have occupied the #2 ranking:

Nadal, Federer, Djokoivc and Murray, any others, Perhaps in 04/05 I'm guessing Roddick or SAfin, but other than that, I can't think of anyone else...

Safin had so much talent! It's a shame he was such a head case! Like Ilie Nastase in the previous era, he probably had every shot in the book and could embarrass the best of them! Unfortunately he embarrassed himself more with his lack of self control! At least he won 2 majors and s/b a lock for the HOF! :clap :clap :clap

Yeah, a shame he didn't have the willpower to go win more. Extremely talented. Like Nalbandian but with 2 slams. Sorry cali :blush: I too wish Nalbs had won at least one.

 

[Kieran]

Underneath it all, I don't think Safin had the guts to fully explore his potential. He ran away from it. It's a huge shame because he could have been an equal of Federer's in the early 2000's...

 

[brokenshoelace]

Underneath it all, I don't think Safin had the guts to fully explore his potential. He ran away from it. It's a huge shame because he could have been an equal of Federer's in the early 2000's...

I don't think it was ever about "guts" with Marat (this really shouldn't be the de facto explanation for every "failure"). I just don't think he cared for the dedication required, which is different than running away from it, IMO. I think Safin was just someone who wanted to enjoy other things as well.

 

[Kieran]

Underneath it all, I don't think Safin had the guts to fully explore his potential. He ran away from it. It's a huge shame because he could have been an equal of Federer's in the early 2000's...

I don't think it was ever about "guts" with Marat (this really shouldn't be the de facto explanation for every "failure"). I just don't think he cared for the dedication required, which is different than running away from it, IMO. I think Safin was just someone who wanted to enjoy other things as well.

It's not the de facto of anything, but in his case, I think he shied away from it. Another way of putting it is he didn't "care for the dedication", but to me, he looked at it all and it required more moral fortitude than he was able to muster...and he fled it for more "easy pleasures..."

 

[Moxie]

Underneath it all, I don't think Safin had the guts to fully explore his potential. He ran away from it. It's a huge shame because he could have been an equal of Federer's in the early 2000's...

I don't think it was ever about "guts" with Marat (this really shouldn't be the de facto explanation for every "failure"). I just don't think he cared for the dedication required, which is different than running away from it, IMO. I think Safin was just someone who wanted to enjoy other things as well.

It's not the de facto of anything, but in his case, I think he shied away from it. Another way of putting it is he didn't "care for the dedication", but to me, he looked at it all and it required more moral fortitude than he was able to muster...and he fled it for more "easy pleasures..."

Since we're on it, and as a student of Safin, I don't think it's fair to put his lack of enthusiasm or dedication down to hedonism. He was the victim, I believe, of an imperious mother, who forced tennis on both of her children, and criticized them mercilessly. You could see the self-flagellation in both of them, courtesy of mother. Marat rebelled by not caring. Dinara self-imploded, poor thing, and then quit.