Novak Djokovic: The Court Jester
What does Novak Djokovic have to present in addition to his antics both, on and off court?
Presently ranked no. 2 in the World, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic only has one grand slam singles title to his name. However, Nole remains the youngest ever tennis professional in the open era, to make it to all four of the grand slam semi-finals. Apart from winning a Bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics, Djokovic has bagged five Masters Series titles along with one Tennis Masters title.
In the year 2007, upon defeating Spain’s Carlos Moya, “Djokervic” amused the audience by impersonating Russia’s “Maria Sharapova” and Spain’s “Rafael Nadal”. Djoko won 6-4, 7-6, 6-1, three sets in a row only to eliminate Moya from the 2007 U.S. Open. Imitating Sharapova’s “hair flip” and Nadal’s “fist pump” seemed to have been a form of celebration for the Serb. Sadly enough, Nole lost in straight sets to Federer in the 2007 U.S. Open final.
A video made by one of the players present in the locker room with Novak during the 2007 U.S. Open, was leaked and is now one of the most popular youtube videos of the sportsman. Nole imitated Rafa by playing around with his shorts and also impersonated Federer by playing around with his hair.
Nevertheless, the all-court player came out victorious in the 2008 Australian Open Men’s singles final. Djoko got rid of Swiss Ace, Roger Federer in the semi-finals and further went on to thrash Frenchman, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga 6–4, 6–3 and 7-6 in the final. In spite of losing the first set 4 games to 6. This was Nole’s first ever grand slam win.
Later that year, Federer got his revenge on Djokovic by beating him 6-3, 7-5, 5-7 and 6-2 in the 2008 U.S. Open semi-finals. The sportsman also made it to the 2008 French Open semi-finals. Although, Nole was knocked out by the defending Champion, Rafael Nadal, who proceeded to win the final.
America’s Andy Roddick imitated Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams at the 2008 Rock n' Racquets held in South Carolina in the month of December. The event was organized to raise money for the “Andy Roddick Foundation”.
In the year 2009, Novak was incapable of making it past the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the Wimbledon Championship. Furthermore, he failed to make it past the third round at the French Open that year.
The professional came head to head against Roger Federer yet again at the 2009 U.S. Open Men’s singles semi-finals. Unfortunately, Federer thrashed Djokovic 7-6, 7-5 and 7-5 in three sets. Federer was defeated by Argentina’s Jaun Martin Del Potro in the Men’s singles final.
The “Serbinator” also imitated John McEnroe, one of America’s greatest tennis players at the 2009 U.S. Open, shortly after playing a concise game with the legend.
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga from France took on Novak at the 2010 Australian Open quarter finals. Nole lost the first set 6-7. He came back 7-6 in the second set and took the third set 6-1. However, Tsonga came back strong with a 6-3 win in the fourth set and finally put an end to the game with a 6-1 win.
Novak went on to participate in the 2010 French Open. Djoko faced Austria’s Jürgen Melzer in the Men’s singles quarter finals. Nole won the first set 6-3 and the second set 6-2. However, Melzer took the remaining three sets 6-2, 7-6 and 6-4. Dismally, the athlete was knocked out of the Roland Garros as well.
Czech Republic’s Tomáš Berdych defeated the Serb at the 2010 Wimbledon Championship semi-finals. Djoko lost 3-6 in the first set. Even though he put up a fight in the second set, he ended up losing 6-7 on a tie breaker. Berdych took the final set 6-3 to proceed to the finals.
Considering the fact that Djokovic has fared better on hard surfaced courts as compared to grass and clay courts, he’ll probably perform well at the U.S. Open 2010. One will expect some buffoonery on the court in any case.
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