Nole---New Calm Confidence

[lacatch]

Ok I'll admit--it may be premature to say---but I watched all of Nole's matches and he played with a zen like self-assuredness that I haven't seen from him in a while. He's certainly very focused since the YE #1 ranking is on the line, but it seems that he can breathe a little easier now that he's married and has had their first child. We'll see--but I think he'll be on a roll in London and beyond.

 

[Billie]

A bit sad for me to admit, but Nole really needs some fire under him, some extra motivation to stay on course and be completely committed to a tournament. He is not like Roger or Rafa who self motivate themselves very well.

He also seems more emotional than a regular #1 player of the world should perhaps be, but he can't change his nature. I suspected that after Stefan was born and everything was OK, Nole would relax a bit more.

He is also still prone to going out to clubs or partying during tournaments, now he just needs a good reason for it, like his wedding.

But when he absolutely has to, he can be a very determined young man. The fist sign of his determination here in Paris was his match vs Monfils. Monfils was hitting those crazy shots that went in over and over again in the 2nd set, yet Nole didn't allow himself to get frustrated for very long. When I see him flailing his hands in the air, looking puzzled and surprised at other peoples shots, then I know he is not focused at a task at hand and is looking for an easy way out. When he is patient and determined, he calms down so quickly even from most frustrating situations.

There are some things that Chris Bowers writes in his book: "The Sporting Statesman Novak Djokovic and the rise of Serbia" that might explain him a little bit better. He did not interview Nole or his closest family for this book, but he did talk to his former coaches and fellow countrymen, tennis players, and gives some insight into Nole's career. Not really too revealing for me but for average tennis fan, it can be useful.

 

[Federberg]

Is he any calmer than he was in 2011? I'm not sure. The guy is an exceptional athlete and tennis player, and life is going well for him with the new family, add to that his growing maturity, to me the calmness is a natural thing. To be honest, I think we might be unfairly judging him to Roger and Rafa. It's just different personalities. I like the fact that he's a bit more expressive. To be honest in recent months Roger seems more willing to gee himself up. I'm loving it! As for Novak's calmness, I want to see it when he's playing against his ultimate rival (Rafa) next year..

 

[kskate2]

^ I don't think he's calmer than 2011. He's actually yet to reach that sustained level since then. I think it's a bit premature to evaluate his demeanor. He went on a tear during the fall last year and then laid an egg down under. I think we have to see his mindset for a few more months and through a couple of majors before a determination can be made.

 

[brokenshoelace]

I think Novak is a great player who had a good tournament (what a scoop, I know). But no, I'm not being tongue-in-cheek. We kind of like to look for general narratives after every tournament. If you believed some here, he was a mental midget after the FO final because he lost so many big matches. A few weeks later, he wins Wimbledon. Then, he found that calm again...only to lose in an awful performance at the US Open. Now, he looks relaxed. But we also thought he had new found focus and motivation at this point last year when he swept every title, before losing to Wawrinka in a bizarre performance.

I guess the point is players can't win all the time and sometimes, there isn't a science behind some losses or some bad performances. One tournament isn't enough data. It's one thing when it was clear that Rafa was struggling with confidence post AO because that kind of dragged, or that Novak was physically spent in late 2011... But this is different.

 

[Federberg]

^Did you really think his performance against Stan was bizarre? The slam matches between those two have come down to a few points in recent times. I didn't think there was anything particularly exceptional that he should lose it

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

towards the end of the year I always think about who might win or is capable of winning the grand slam (4 consecutive majors in calendar year, not the Sampras style "winning slams")

djokovic is the only player who could win all four in 2015, he has the skill, physical, and mental capacity to do it,,the only blip are his mental awol performances at the fo. which he could overcome.

 

[brokenshoelace]

^Did you really think his performance against Stan was bizarre? The slam matches between those two have come down to a few points in recent times. I didn't think there was anything particularly exceptional that he should lose it

I never said the result was bizarre. Rather, the performance was bizarre. He looked quite poor in the middle portions of that match, especially compared to how ridiculously in form he was looking prior, both at the AO itself, and the previous months.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

It is one thing to have the expertise and ability to play and another thing to channel them at your command. It is on the second, that Novak fails often.

 

[DarthFed]

^Did you really think his performance against Stan was bizarre? The slam matches between those two have come down to a few points in recent times. I didn't think there was anything particularly exceptional that he should lose it

I thought it was pretty bizarre, both the performance and the result. Even taking into account that Stan had pushed him at 2 straight slam meetings it was still a huge upset to see anyone, let alone Stan, take him down at AO last year. I will say that Nole's most notorious fanatic on this board, Mastoor, had talked really badly about Djokovic's game before that match so he seemed to be onto something.

 

[tented]

I will say that Nole's most notorious fanatic on this board, Mastoor, had talked really badly about Djokovic's game before that match so he seemed to be onto something.

Mastoor has a history of doing this with important matches: he'll sweep in a day or two beforehand, chest thumping his way to the trophy ceremony, then come back right before the match begins and downplay Novak's chances.

 

[DarthFed]

^ I've never noticed that before actually. Mastoor usually thinks he's invincible and this also was just a QF match vs. a non top 4 player. I definitely hadn't seen anything like that from him before and given how Nole played in that QF I give him credit for seeing problems most didn't notice.

 

[Billie]

^ I've never noticed that before actually. Mastoor usually thinks he's invincible and this also was just a QF match vs. a non top 4 player. I definitely hadn't seen anything like that from him before and given how Nole played in that QF I give him credit for seeing problems most didn't notice.

As somebody who is a close friend of Mastoor's, I can say that he sometimes has a good sense about Nole's game, but sometimes he is off, just like most of us. He is usually right about Nole's form in Australia in the past years. He was spot on about this year's AO, but he also predicted Nole's demise after Dubai, so we all tend to over-react, fans and non-fans.

Nole is a pretty honest guy in his interviews, if you care to listen to him. He gave full credit to Stan at Australia at the time. Few weeks after that he was in Serbia, didn't play DC that was in Serbia against Switzerland. He was mentally tired, he didn't think he could perform well. Regardless of what people say and think about him, I still consider him a very smart young guy. Nothing in his life or career so far has happened that would make me think that he is "faking" something. Naturally they can't be most honest about everything in front of TV, but they can give us clues and explanations about events. I was watching his appearance in the TV show (similar to American Late Night With) and the guy asked him about that match in Australia. Nole said that Wawrinka had a different belief during that match than ever before. Nole usually can sense the moments when his opponents tighten up and then he can attack, but he wasn't seeing it that particular night. Stan was just full of confidence, swinging freely and wasn't blinking at all. Nole gave him full credit for winning that match.

I also might add that the previous events had a big impact on Nole: the problems Viktor had and Nole's communications with ITF and ATP regarding him, then Nole playing lights out that fall and still came short and lost his #1 ranking, then he fought like crazy for that DC final and even though he won both of his matches, the doubles team lost a crucial tie, that was very disappointing to him. Then he had committed to going to South America for 3 exhibition matches immediately after DC final and then finally he went on vacation with Jelena. I don't think he mentally recovered or had enough time to recharge his batteries for Australia. It just happens sometimes, you go, go, go, go....then you stop for a little and then you need to motivate yourself to start going at the crazy pace again.

He was considering leaving tennis in 2010, but once they discovered his health issues, he settled personal things, and he found his resolve and determination, his calmness from that period is the same as today. He repeated this over and over again: every season is different, the same tournaments they come to play - there are different circumstances from one year to another. In 2011 everything was kind of new for him, the drive and the motivation was to keep pushing and see how far he could go...and he just kept going.

I understood this, from his interviews, and then when you start thinking about your own life, you kind of understand that Nole is right. I sometimes feel like I can tackle the most difficult tasks over and over again, and then I really don't feel like doing even some small, regular things.

I love him because he is who he is, on and off the tennis court. He is human, he cares about others, he is polite to others, he is friendly, he likes to party, but he can be as serious as anybody when he has to. I sometimes have talks with other Nole fans and some wish he could have won more. I never think about that. I always think that he wins as much as he can and still have a some sort of life outside tennis. Lack of tournaments, lack of matches, those don't bother me, because at the end it is his decision and he knows best what he can and can't do.

 

[Federberg]

^Did you really think his performance against Stan was bizarre? The slam matches between those two have come down to a few points in recent times. I didn't think there was anything particularly exceptional that he should lose it

I never said the result was bizarre. Rather, the performance was bizarre. He looked quite poor in the middle portions of that match, especially compared to how ridiculously in form he was looking prior, both at the AO itself, and the previous months.

Ah ok. My recollection was that I was excited about the match, because something about Novak's game seems to bring the best out of Stan's. Even as something about Rafa's game makes Stan just roll over for his tummy to be be tickled (normally). I was hoping for another 5 setter, but I didn't really think Stan would pull it off in the end. I was really pleased for him

 

[Federberg]

^ I've never noticed that before actually. Mastoor usually thinks he's invincible and this also was just a QF match vs. a non top 4 player. I definitely hadn't seen anything like that from him before and given how Nole played in that QF I give him credit for seeing problems most didn't notice.

As somebody who is a close friend of Mastoor's, I can say that he sometimes has a good sense about Nole's game, but sometimes he is off, just like most of us. He is usually right about Nole's form in Australia in the past years. He was spot on about this year's AO, but he also predicted Nole's demise after Dubai, so we all tend to over-react, fans and non-fans.

Nole is a pretty honest guy in his interviews, if you care to listen to him. He gave full credit to Stan at Australia at the time. Few weeks after that he was in Serbia, didn't play DC that was in Serbia against Switzerland. He was mentally tired, he didn't think he could perform well. Regardless of what people say and think about him, I still consider him a very smart young guy. Nothing in his life or career so far has happened that would make me think that he is "faking" something. Naturally they can't be most honest about everything in front of TV, but they can give us clues and explanations about events. I was watching his appearance in the TV show (similar to American Late Night With) and the guy asked him about that match in Australia. Nole said that Wawrinka had a different belief during that match than ever before. Nole usually can sense the moments when his opponents tighten up and then he can attack, but he wasn't seeing it that particular night. Stan was just full of confidence, swinging freely and wasn't blinking at all. Nole gave him full credit for winning that match.

I also might add that the previous events had a big impact on Nole: the problems Viktor had and Nole's communications with ITF and ATP regarding him, then Nole playing lights out that fall and still came short and lost his #1 ranking, then he fought like crazy for that DC final and even though he won both of his matches, the doubles team lost a crucial tie, that was very disappointing to him. Then he had committed to going to South America for 3 exhibition matches immediately after DC final and then finally he went on vacation with Jelena. I don't think he mentally recovered or had enough time to recharge his batteries for Australia. It just happens sometimes, you go, go, go, go....then you stop for a little and then you need to motivate yourself to start going at the crazy pace again.

He was considering leaving tennis in 2010, but once they discovered his health issues, he settled personal things, and he found his resolve and determination, his calmness from that period is the same as today. He repeated this over and over again: every season is different, the same tournaments they come to play - there are different circumstances from one year to another. In 2011 everything was kind of new for him, the drive and the motivation was to keep pushing and see how far he could go...and he just kept going.

I understood this, from his interviews, and then when you start thinking about your own life, you kind of understand that Nole is right. I sometimes feel like I can tackle the most difficult tasks over and over again, and then I really don't feel like doing even some small, regular things.

I love him because he is who he is, on and off the tennis court. He is human, he cares about others, he is polite to others, he is friendly, he likes to party, but he can be as serious as anybody when he has to. I sometimes have talks with other Nole fans and some wish he could have won more. I never think about that. I always think that he wins as much as he can and still have a some sort of life outside tennis. Lack of tournaments, lack of matches, those don't bother me, because at the end it is his decision and he knows best what he can and can't do.

I must say.. when Novak came on the scene I really didn't like his parents that much, and it stained my perception of him. But over the years as his personality and game has matured I've come to like him a lot. I think he's an exceptional athlete, I'm in awe of his movement and defence, and in terms of sporting nature I think he is hands down the most gracious of the big guys. The number of times I see him applaud an opponents good shot, and also he seems to be a lot more sincere at the net when he loses a match than any of the other guys (who frankly feel a bit more entitled I think ). If it wasn't for the way Roger plays the game I could have seen myself as being a Nole-fan. In some ways I am. Certainly when he plays against Murray or Rafa there's only one guy I'm going to support! Class act

 

[Billie]

^^ That is very nice of you federberg, thank you.

It takes time to get to know somebody, even as public as a professional player. Ever since I joined the tennis boards in 2010, I've always tried to reveal some things about Nole to others, some things that naturally others wouldn't be aware unless they are from his country or can read Serbian. I do it mostly for my Nole fans, but others that are interested in knowing. Things that were written and said about Nole in the past, frankly hurt me because they were so far off the truth, but appearances and misinterpretations sometimes can cause a lot of damage and it takes time to make it right.

Vajda gave an interview to L'Equipe yesterday and he said he was amazed at how well Nole did in Paris considering he wasn't prepared at all (complete lack of training). But the birth of his son relieved the stress and concerns that he exhibited at the time. And it yet again showed his team how mentally tough he is to come into a big tournament like Paris and win it convincingly without proper preparation.