Of Novak Djokovic
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Matić М., Tennis “Serbo–Croatian Grand Slam” оf Novak Djokovic PHYSICAL CULTURE 2011; 65 (2): 106-112 VIEW OF EVENTS Milivoje Matić 796.342:929 Djoković N. View of Events Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Belgrade “SERBO–CROATIAN GRAND SLAM” OF NOVAK DJOKOVIC 1. PRECIDING (“CONFESSIONAL”) NOTE It may seem as a paradox, but this “textual vol- ...Then, on April 14, 2011 – on a day the least ley” (i.e. an attempt to “point” before “the issue hits signifi cant for Serbian tennis (Djokovic did not take the ground”), or an expert “report” was made – unex- part in the Masters in Monte Carlo, Tipsarevic was pectedly (yet, in a “counter planned way”!) and cer- beaten in the fi rst round, Troicki “was torturing” him- tain “author’s hesitation” is notable in its design and self...) – on April 14, therefore, our author did not shaping for publication”1)... endure: “I will write something about Djokovic!...” ...Nevertheless, the idea of writing it has missed neither a motive, nor reason, but only – let us use tennis jargon – one of “winner diagonals” (in the moment when everyone expected a “parallel”)... 1) Having written the text TENNIS “JEWEL(S)” ON THE SPORTS “NECKLACE” OF SERBIA, dedicated to a real enterprise of Ser- bian athletes (Davis-Cup winning, in early December 2010), the author fi rst sent it to one of his distinguished colleagues, a university professor (Theory of Physical Education) – for “further action”... In the accompanying e-mail, he, so to say, apologized because (after more than 10 years of his “journalistic pension”), he could not refrain from writing this text, because “the winning salad bowl” was such a technical challenge, that – and that is the point of this “confessional note“! – will not happen again during his “mandate on the earth”... Following the publication of the expert report in “Physical Culture” (No. 1 / 2010) his abovementioned “fi rst reviewer” suggested the same author in his e-mail to write a text that would be dedicated solely to Novak Djokovic, who – as it was written literally in the e-mail – “... aspires to the peaks of world tennis”... It was in early March of 2011, therefore, before the tournament in Miami, and before Dokovic’s “epic win” in the fi nals over the “world’s number one”, the Spaniard Rafael Nadal!.. Consistent to his “professional line,” the author has resisted to this (outstanding!) professional challenge – thinking, (among other things) that the Djokovic was anyway “written all about” – all over the planet... Moreover, he thought that a signifi cant number of these texts were “choral productions,” that Djokovic’s successes was treated as a “general observation of a sports moment” (often only as “golden goose” of media), while as a professional issue it was trivialized to the level of irrelevance... 106 Correspondence to: Milivoje Matić, Rudo 1, 11000 Belgrade Matić М., Tennis “Serbo–Croatian Grand Slam” оf Novak Djokovic PHYSICAL CULTURE 2011; 65 (2): 106-112 2. “A WINNING TSUNAMI” tournaments and not because he was “a real treat” for UNRECORDED IN THE (“overfed”) “tennis lovers from all over the world,” but primarily because of the uncertain outcome until RECENT HISTORY OF the end of “tie–break” of the third and deciding set WORLD TENNIS (Nadal won the fi rst, Djokovic won the second) and, in particular, because of the superior gaming chivalry “on both sides of the net”... Yes, those who wrote about this Serbian tennis player in early 2011, “turned” into Lermontov (Mi- …that tennis match, without any doubt, comes chael Jurjevic) a bit, pretending to write a draft for to the top of the overall tennis creativity of modern a new (sports) novel titled “The hero of our time”... times, “shoulder to shoulder” with the unforgettable fi nals at Wimbledon in 2008, between Federer and It is understandable then that all these texts Nadal, who, as we know, are (by consensus!) pro- mainly elaborated Djokovic’s “absolute victory of the claimed “the greatest in the history of tennis” by the season”: winning all four tournaments of the highest most eminent experts of this noble game, and, any- category, “Grand Slam” in Melbourne and “Masters way, it was, as “tennis authorities” said, the best ten- 1000” in Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami... nis that they had seen in their lives… At the same time, it was especially empha- sized, of course, that the “framework” of the four ...However, Djokovic’s “(continuous!) series tournaments was of the highest class! All players of 24 victories,” in 2011 was almost an inevitable ranked in the so–called “top ten” (the top ten on the “slogan” in any newspaper article or in radio or tele- ATP list), with slight variations, participated there. vision reviews dedicated to him... Then it would be (and, it can be, quite understandably) “added” that Therefore, (“it was shouted”!) Djokovic – in this player approached “a step and a half” distance order to win four titles in 2011 – had to win (among towards the record (!) of Ivan Lendl (26 consecutive other things!) the second world ranked tennis players wins) in the “recent history of tennis professional- (a Swiss Roger Federer) for three (!) times, becoming ism” i.e., a “half step” from “the record of records” a kind of “(tournament) nightmare” for this extraor- of John McEnroe (39), thus including the time when dinary tennis master; as well as to win “the World the professionalism of today was, so to say, in “short number one”, a Spaniard Rafael Nadal, for two (!) pants” only… times; the player who – after the fi nal tournament in Miami – and in an utterly sincere and “Nadal–like ...This “series” is, without any doubt (and in way” admitted warmly that Djokovic “is playing the spite of a certain ironic “overtones” in the previous best tennis in the world now”... paragraph), a very important sports performance and a plausible indication of sports “fi tness” of the respec- .. .And that fi nale of theirs in Miami – truth be tive players in a given competition period of the sea- told – son, and it may have been a very interesting “topic” for “publicum heat up” in media (“When will Novak …not only because of 24th consecutive victory break the record?2))...but nothing more ... Especially of “our (!) tennis player” on the highest–ranked world nothing more in terms of professional sport... 2) It cannot be confi rmed, but the presumption that arises here is Djokovic’s abandonment of the “ATP Masters 1000” in Monte Carlo, in the fi rst half of April 2011 – although offi cially explained as a “knee injury” – it was, in fact, a “tactical gambit” of the same “record project “... Namely, Belgrade has already been “plastered with billboards” with Djokovic’s photographs, on which SERBIA OPEN 2011 has been announced, saying that (in the period from April 23 to May 1, 2011) our “tennis hope” should “surpass” Lendl’s re- cord ... Djokovic’s “headquarters”, of course, “knew what is to be done”: the Belgrade tournament is two degrees lower (read: easier!) than the one in Monte Carlo (ATP 1000) both by its rank (ATP 250) and the applied contesters... That is to say, it would be easier for “the world’s number two” to reach another “victory in a row” and so (for now...) precede the previous record of the famous Czech... ... Without evil thoughts, this “home analyses pass” may be characterized, at least, as rational, in fact, purposeful… ... And about a “purpose” ...non disputandum est... 107 Matić М., Tennis “Serbo–Croatian Grand Slam” оf Novak Djokovic PHYSICAL CULTURE 2011; 65 (2): 106-112 3. CONDITIO SINE QUA NON proached from a particular perspective, somewhat retroactively (without “hesitation”, but with the in- tention to grasp “dialectical whole” of the problem, Well, what is so special – and in sports terms with a reminder of “a negative phase”) of his.... “vocational”! – that distinguishes this period (Janu- ary – March 2011) of Djokovic’s professional career, ...In fact, it is understandable that nobody from if not the four tournaments of the highest rank, i.e., a “our little Serbia” was pleased to watch, for example, continuous series of 24 victories? the fi nal phase (the fourth set) of the semi–fi nal ten- nis match at the Australian Open in 2009, between In other words, what was it that could have Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick... That “tor- been spotted on the very court3) as a signifi cantly new ture of the Serb”, was not just about “staying in the quality of Djokovic’s play? game”, but (literary!) “staying on one’s feet” ...which seemed, indeed, a very depressing... The above Nadal’s observation (“Djokovic now plays the best tennis in the world”) or the one by ...And when it happened, it was not surprising the best ranked American player, Mardy Fish, after that there was is not a single “media voice” of these being defeated by Djokovic in the semifi nals of Mi- days (either openly or with euphemisms), tended not ami (“He is breaking us into pieces...”) do not even only to lament the subsequent surrender of Djokovic try to answer any questions. in the match (because of his obvious physical ex- haustion), but also to ask “fundamental questions”, Unbiased (or “chilled”) analysts of “tennis such as: why this “tennis hope of ours” in important practice”, among many “parameters”, have espe- matches, in the fi eld, often acted as if not physically cially stressed the following three: improved service, ready? (...which, of course, meant that this athlete did playing from the baseline and the “freshness of the not lack “ultimate tennis knowledge”)... game,” or, colloquially speaking, “physical condi- tion” (or “fi tness“)..