Tennis news: Novak Djokovic brings heat in the U.S. Open 2010
Novak Djokovic's fans have experienced this before at Grand Slams in 2010. They get their hopes up, and in the end, but Djokovic lets them down.
It happened in Melbourne as well. He was presented with a relatively clear path to the semi-finals against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. One set out of two in the quarter finals, he faded away in five. More questions were asked about his seemingly weak body.
Similarly, it happened in Paris. Facing stripy Austrian-lefty Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals, this Serbian took his foot off the gas. Melzer, not known for his mental toughness, defeated Djokovic from the two sets down.
Although it happened in London that after tearing his shirt in the celebration of defeating grass-court threat Lleyton Hewitt, unrestrained joy the Serb hadn't shown in a while, Djokovic mysteriously turned passive in the semi-finals against Tomas Berdych and paid the consequences.
Nonetheless, the U.S. Open looks more promising.
The 2008 passion and the boastfulness is still missing in Djokovic, but in New York he overcame another obstacle by defeating one of the tour’s hottest players, Mardy Fish by 6-3, 6-4 and 6-1 in the fourth round.
"He kicked my butt," Mardy Fish said. "He played great."
For the second straight encounter, Djokovic didn't disappoint the spectators at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Challenging fading expert James Blake in windy conditions Saturday night, Djokovic set the tempo by breaking in Blake's opening service game. The only excitement originated from a second-set tiebreaker.
Djokovic defeated Fish in his opening service game, too, paving the way for a mostly relaxing afternoon in conditions that weren't quite hot enough to disturb the world No. 3, disreputably lethargic, when the mercury rises considerably.
Fish shed 30 pounds this season and, thus is in the best form of his career, but it was incongruous that left hamstring and ankle injuries are usual at Flushing Meadows.
Did he get the balance right in singles and doubles? Fish used plenty of energy at the Cincinnati Masters, and bailing from New Haven apparently wasn't enough for this poster boy. Fish failed against the unbeatable trio of Jan Hajek, Pablo Cuevas and Arnaud Clement.
Even if 100 percent, Fish was bound to fight against Djokovic. The Serb remains an elegant returner, and from the baseline, it's no competition.
Therein lay Fish's puzzle: If he stayed back, Djokovic would have missed. Djokovic loves goals, so attacking wasn't necessary a fool-proof solution. But Fish needs to be more skilful only half of his techniques to the net. He wasn’t used to the windier conditions on Ashe.
"It certainly is a matchup issue," Mardy Fish, now 0-5 against Djokovic, said.
So, the aces needed in the match. And he was out-aced 5-3. Djokovic isn't working on his serve, which hasn't been the case in recent times.
For those keeping track, that's 11 straight sets won by Djokovic - facing a bit solid opposition. After almost losing to countryman Viktor Troicki in the first round, the blips have since vanished.
Djokovic is preferred against black Frenchman Gael Monfils in the quarterfinals. Gael Monfils is a French professional tennis player, and second-highest ranked French tennis player who has won two ATP singles titles in 2005 and 2009. Monfils was also the runner-up at the 2009 Paris Masters and a semi-finalist of French Open 2008.
Monfils is famous for his playing style, as he likes to stand far back and play every shot until he forces an error from his opponent. His defensive abilities are really notable. He is well known for his athleticism, which is usually compared to Rafael Nadal.
The continued good performance suggests he'll be a handful for whomever he challenges in an upcoming semi-final, be it Roger Federer or Robin Soderling.http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=217
Djokovic fans lighten up. This could be the major for Serb or could say this could be the major he finally wakes up. The world is looking forward to that best player who will win U.S. Open 2010.
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