Novak Djokovic is one win away from going through the Asian swing undefeated. Standing in his way of both that feat and the Shanghai title on Sunday is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Djokovic crushed Andy Murray in the semis, while Tsonga outlasted Rafael Nadal.
Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be squaring off for the 20th time in their careers when they collide in the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Sunday.
Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 13-6, but Tsonga is 6-7 lifetime against the Serb on hard courts and 6-6 in hard-court matches that did not end in retirement. While all of those numbers are encouraging for the underdog, this one is not: Djokovic has won 11 of the last 12 at Tsonga’s expense after once trailing the series 5-2. Tsonga finally ended an 11-match losing skid by rolling over Djokovic–and everyone else–6-2, 6-2 en route to the Rogers Cup title last summer.
Shanghai, though, is not exactly the spot where the Frenchman would choose to face Djokovic. The world No. 1 is 23-3 lifetime at this event following victories this week over Martin Klizan, Feliciano Lopez, Bernard Tomic, and Andy Murray and only Tomic has been remotely competitive. Djokovic is also 16-0 in his last 16 matches with titles at the U.S. Open and in Beijing.
Tsonga is invoking memories of his run to the 2014 Toronto title. The competition has not been as strong, but the mental fortitude it has required is commendable. The 15th-ranked Frenchman, a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Open and champion in Metz, survived consecutive three-set thrillers against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Kevin Anderson, and Rafael Nadal. He preceded those victories by taking out Tommy Robredo and Victor Estrella Burgos.
“All along the season I worked hard to be able to play these matches,” Tsonga commented. “When it happens, I’m really happy to have worked hard because I know I can count on my body. It’s something great for me because it was not always like this. Today I’m a lot stronger than I was maybe few years ago. I think it’s good for me.
“I feel good. To be honest, the season was difficult with a lot of ups and downs. This surface is one of my favourites. I know I’m able to play good tennis. Before I came here, I didn’t know if I will be able to play that good. I hope it’s going to continue.”
It may continue later this fall, but not on Sunday. Tsonga’s Toronto upset of Djokovic was an obvious aberration as opposed to the rule. Speaking of ruling, that is just what the top seed has been doing in Asia and there is no reason to think he is descending from the throne anytime soon.
Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 5-7 games
[polldaddy poll=9131953]
Novak in straights as expected.
I said Rafa missed the boat in 2009 and that’s my opinion. It’s obvious that Rafa had Fed’s numbers at the slams during that period and so he not winning the channel slams that year because of his injuries was some lost opportunities for him to add to his slams, his weeks at no.1 and also his legacy.
The contention about the Rafa slam or the Novak slam, it didn’t matter whether Rafa came short of two or three matches of winning it, it’s still a chance to win all four slams in a row after winning the third one, and Rafa lost in the QF at the AO because he injured his thigh during the match and that’s something unfortunate.
We call it so and so’s slam just to distinguish who’s the one on the verge of collecting all four in a row, if not how are we going to address or acknowledge that achievement? It’s not only a career slam but it’s not necessarily a calendar slam either. I can’t believe some people could be so bothered by the term used to acknowledge that achievement.
I agree regarding the issue of naming these slams. What else can we call it? Because it’s not the calendar slam, everyone seemed to jump on the idea to name it after the player who was trying to accomplish the feat of winning four slams in a row, not in the same calendar year.
I also agree that the number of matches by which any player did not accomplish said feat, is irrelevant. The important factor is that said player had the opportunity at all. We know that it doesn’t come along that often. Otherwise someone would have done it already.
Fed, Rafa and Novak have all their chance. None of them accomplished it. Fact. Quibbling over whether it was one match or two matches means nothing, because TennisFan has said that the important thing is that it didn’t happen. For all of them.
BTW, we also heard of the Serena slam after Serena Williams successfully won all four in a row but not within a calendar year, so that’s not a term invented by people here. It’s that the term ‘so and so slam’ is used by the tennis playing, commentating and viewing communities.
Tennisfan successfully trolled few weeks back and drove all nuts. Why are we indulging him again? Ignore the troll.
No I feel quite satisfied actually. There’s still a charm around it which the career Slam has lost ( or rather never had because it was manufactured to support the Agassi PR parade which the media ran with in subsequent generations).
By the way: Happy Birthday Martina! Nobody refers to the “Martina Slam”, even though she achieved six-in-a-row beginning at Wimbledon 1983. This equals Margaret Court (from US Open 1969 to AO 1971) as the longest winning streak in Open Era history.
Her one and only loss in all competitions in 1983 came at what was then the year’s opening slam, Roland Garros, when she fell to a complete nobody called Kathleen Horvath despite taking the second set by 6-0; the following year she lost just two matches, an early non-slam event to Hana Mandlikova and then – catastrophically, à la Serena – she messed up the AO semi ( when it was the last event of the calendar year) to Helena Sukova 6-1, 3-6, 5-7. In both losing slam matches she won more points than the winner.
Maureen “Little Mo” Connolly similarly lost just one singles match in all of 1953 (to Beverly Fleitz), but she secured all the slams – to be joined by Court [1970] and Stefanie “Steffi” Graf [1988], the only women to achieve this to date. Martina never did this, but she achieved so much else it is worth remembering her on her big day.
a good call Ricky, congrats.
World No. 2 Andy Murray will have a 580 point lead on World No. 3 Federer tomorrow and leads him by 1120 points in the Race to London.
It will be Andy’s 2nd week at No. 2 this year.
Djokovic’s dominance is starting to be ridiculous…
Biggest tennis dominance of all time.
c’mon I do not need to indicate who here is arguing that Novak is unbeatable…you just need to
go through the praises Novak receives on this site from Rafans…I think Nole’s fans could learn from it…they would certainly get ashamed of how little support and admiration they are able to articulate for their guy… 🙂
BTW I am one of those fans who prefer Fed over Novak unlike you… and if Rafa failed, I would rather have Fed hold those records than Novak mostly because I appreciate Fed’s tennis better. I really admire Fed’s serve and volley game, I am so amazed with his tactical approach to each mach and the variety of play he disposes…and most of all I appreciate his refusal to be a boring baseliner…I am aware that Fed has made Rafa a better player and I am grateful for that…and if anyone recognizes that it’s Rafa himself…
I also like Fed standing up for himself…I love when his responses to the press are all about him because IMO that is how it should be…he is the one who always assessed his own game and said: I did not play well, rather than praising his rival’s game…and even though most of you here would disapprove of it, I wish Rafa was like that instead of constantly marveling his opponents game…
one more thing…I am surrounded by Novak’s fans and I get to hear about his superiority all the time…hence this opposition and revolt in me… 🙂
nats, I think I’m in the minority here preferring Nole to Fed.
I seriously don’t see anyone here claiming that Nole is unbeatable. Sure, I for one amongst a few like NNY and luckystar actually picked Murray to win yesterday.
Also, Fed is not being honest and is disrespectful when he blames his losses on luck as he did against Nole at the US Open, tells the French crowd to shut up when they prematurely cheered for him before the point had ended and cursed Andy Murray in Australia.
However, he is dominating more than any player has ever dominated in the open era ATM.
I can understand where you are coming from (pun intended) being in Serbia, but in the rest of the world (other than Spain), it’s just as bad with fed fans and the NY crowd was a peRFect example of this.
October 18, 2015 at 9:47 pm
—Fed…tells the French crowd to shut up when they prematurely cheered for him before the point had ended —
===
.
The poster @9:47 pm is spreading a fake story that the crowd cheered for Fed! !!!
Actually, Fed screamed ‘Shut up!’ after he hit the ball into the net and the spectators cheered on his OPPONENT (Delpo)! It happened in 2012 at Roland Garros. (Videos are available on demand.)
he told Djokovic’s camp to shut up somewhere
10 house points deducted from Slytherin.
Monte Carlo 2008, Fed told Djoko’s family to “be quiet”.
legendary scenes
The Djokovic camp was literally heckling him even when he had given the point to Novak. It was at Monte Carlo in 2008 and Fed told them to be quiet.
But yeah I suppose this stuff boosts your morale and helps to deal with Fed’s glorious career trajectory a bit better. :p Even if wrong in material particulars such has ‘facts.’ :p
Love Fed better than Djoko. Djoko’s family makes weird accusations, rejoices prematurely etc. Fed put them in their place. Good for him!
I think it makes them human.
@ hawkeye 9:47,
I appreciate your own point of view on Fed…I still think he is allowed to blame it on luck or any other reason. I think players should primarily reflect on their own game and offer assessments/reasons for their losses rather than having to go into analysis of the game of their opponents…but it is probably subjective view of mine and dependent on which player one likes more…and the press of course can be really annoying and insistant in their questions…
It must be that I am just so disappointed in Rafa that makes me less appreciative of Novak…however it shall by no means be interpreted as my refusal to recognize his achievements…I really admire him…it is just that I expect at some point in the near future his dominance will be stopped…
BTW, I do not come from Serbia. I come from Montenegro (it used to be Serbia and Montenegro). We gained our independence in 2006. 🙂
Thanks for the geography lesson nats!
I hope you are right (depending on who does the stopping of course) but only if it means that someone gets better than him, as opposed to him getting worse.
I love watching tennis played at its highest level. There is nothing like it in sport IMO.
Same as Milos BTW. Montenegrin born that is.
yep…I even know personally some of his close relatives…it’s a small country… 🙂
Haha. I was going to ask if you knew him as a joke. 🙂
It’s entirely possible that Novak’s dominance will stop. It’s not out of the question. I remember many pundits and so-called experts saying in 2011 that Novak would dominate. However, that did not happen. He was able to get back to #1, but in 2012, 2013 and 2014, the slams were pretty evenly distributed.
I think the Rafa’s slump is one reason why Novak has been able to dominate this year. We know what Rafa can do when he’s at his best. In fact, he’s gotten the better of Novak in slams for the last few years. After that 2012 AO loss, he’s gotten the better of him when they’ve met in slams.
I never liked Novak, especially earlier in his career. The truth is that I don’t like either him or Fed. I don’t know that I have a preference as to who will have all the records. I tend to agree with hawkeye about Fed’s behavior and his fanatic fans. But I can understand why someone who has to listen to the Serbian media would have had their fill of Novak! 🙂
I too don’t like either Fed or Novak but I can appreciate their tennis and will be objective enough to point out where they excel but also where their weaknesses are when I see them. They both worked hard and with their talent, earned what they deserved.
Praising their game doesnt mean that I am no longer a Rafa fan, for I’ll always appreciate Rafa, both as a tennis player and as a fellow human being, and I’ll always wish him well. Rafa works equally hard if not harder, and I do feel hes the most talented of them all. Without a serve as good as theirs, and without a solid enough BHDTL that he could hit regularly, he was still able to beat him more than they beat him, and earned his fair share of titles and major ones too. Just imagine how good Rafa will be if he can have those two additional weapons in his tool box! We got a glimpse of how a big serve helped Rafa to be unbeatable at the USO in 2010. We got a glimpse of a good enough BHDTL in that FO2013 SF and also the final. Its just that both weapons weren’t being developed or properly developed from young, hence I feel Rafa’s potential has not being fully realized.
Rafa did not go to a tennis academy to learn his tennis skills and his uncle concentrated more on his mental focus and his ability to withstand pressure on the tennis court but allowed Rafa to develop his unorthdox tennis strokes. Rafa was motivated enough to play doubles at a young age and sometimes partnered his seniors like Moya just to pick up skills playing at the net. Hes now a competent volleyer and is very good when at the net.
I do believe that Rafa when at his best could stop this Novak, at least at the FO and the USO. He together with Stan will make it tough for Novak at the AO ( Novak wasnt all that conquering during his AO and also USO finals this year anyway, digging deep to win). Its at the Wimbledon that I find no one will stop Novak unless Murray or some young guns can step up.
lucky,
That’s pretty much how I feel. I do not begrudge Fed and Novak’s tennis and their hard work. I do appreciate what they have done in this sport. I can respect that. But Rafa will always be my one and only favorite.
I also think about what Rafa might have done without all of those injuries that have cost him precious time in his career. I give him a lot of credit for hanging in there and trying to work on his game and his mental or emotional issues.
Paul Annacone said something really interesting during Rafa’s match with Tsonga. It was in the beginning. He was talking about Rafa’s struggles this year and he said this – all players have their mental ups and downs in their careers. It happens to all of them. Then he said that Rafa has had to work on his this year. What I liked is that he made it simple. No extensive psychoanalysis. He just pointed out that players do go through this kind of thing. It’s not like Rafa is the first one who’s ever experienced it. He has always been very appreciative and respectful of Rafa and his tennis. I enjoy his commentary because he remains objective and also points out little details, nuggets of info that are good to know.
Why would the Montenegro media push Novak if he is from serbia and they have independence from Serbia?
30% of Montenegrin population declares themselves as Serbs…they still hold their hopes that Montenegro will get back with Serbia in the future…they are more pro-Russian (after all we are Slavic country) However, they are minority as Montenegro consist of various nations…Montenegrins OTOH want to join EU and NATO which is strongly opposed by Serb minority…this is just to give you quick political background… 🙂
More importantly, Novak’s grandfather originates from Montenegro as he was born here…some people claim he is therefore not Serb but Montenegrin instead…this is where all the support comes from…however, Novak never claims he is Montenegrin, but accepts the hospitality of Montenegro, holds properties in Montenegro and has huge fan base…
people cheering for Rafa or Fed to that end are not well received…when I explain that I was cheering for Rafa even before Novak was considered a force in tennis and that I have nothing against Novak but simply like Rafa better, they generally judge me and disapprove…it is not easy to be non-Novak fan here… 🙂
I agree with native. Unlikely that Djoko will have as good a 2016 as this year.
I have nothing against Djoko but his fanatical fans make life intolerable when he is winning. So I always root against him.
And lest we forget, Rafa is the Best.
#OfAllTime
Love your inexhaustable supply of witty bon mots.
And your quirky take on lfe.
Keep on trekking.
#BPOAT
Moi?
#Humb1e
ed251137 (at 6:54 am),
This [@1.03am] is a part of the story Mary mentioned on October 19, 2015 at 2:07 am: “Where is RITB? vr attacked her viciously assuming she was me…”
.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRqgxDYUwAAK9vh.png:medium
That reminds me. Where is RITB? vr attacked her viciously assuming she was me but Ricky neither deleted that post nor gave vr any warning although Ricky knew that RITB is not me. It is a pity she is missing. She is a class apart. Somebody on tennis-x also expressed regret at nadalista’s absence. I am flattered of course that I am mistaken for her but sadly I am not she. Anyway guys as long as you don’t troll or attack loyal Rafa fans for defending Rafa, I have no issues with any of you. As a matter of fact, I love hawkeye when he is not trolling. Joint favorite with RITB. Since Ricky seems to be moderating, hopefully one will see more of the “creative genius”, rather than the annoying troll.
I am not entertaining any hope about return of Rafa the invincible until I actually see him defeat Djoko. In fact I am ashamed to say I was happy Rafa lost to Tsonga as my battered heart cannot take his defeats to Djoko any more. And it is obvious Rafa is still not at the level at which he can beat Djoko. As vr pointed out, Rafa’s movement still needs some work and he has to have his forehand and backhand down the line firing on all cylinders. And yes, he needs a better serve.
Congrats on getting along so well on tennis-x! skeezers bff!!!
Djoker may lose 2 matches from now till end of year. I think he will lose Paris and lose 1 RR in WTF but still win WTF overall.
He could lose 3
Could lose 4 too
No he couldnt
Rafa on the other hand has a chance to win Basel if he continues to play like he did in Shanghai.
Rafa is 1800 points behind Stan in the race 2015 and I think in all likelihood No 4 for AO is ruled out.
There are 3,000 points in the offing until Y/E, after the WTF, so it’s not impossible for Rafa to overtake Stan before the start of the new season.
Basel 500
Paris 1,000
WTF 1,500
All indoors so yes, it is.
https://twitter.com/rafaelnadal/status/656155798226137089
What is the probability he will pick much out of 3000? He needs to win 1 , make finals of 1 and semis of 3rd to kinda get 1800. Not happening.
And this gap will increase as Stan will keep adding to his total too. Its not as if he will lose in 1st round of all 3 🙂
All I’m saying is, it is not mathematically impossible.
@ pat lemon,
for some strange reason (or I am suddenly being under moderation) my response to you does not come through…I will repost it here to see if it gets through this time..
30% of Montenegrin population declares themselves as Serbs…they still hold their hopes that Montenegro will get back with Serbia in the future…they are more pro-Russian (after all we are Slavic country) However, they are minority as Montenegro consist of various nations…Montenegrins OTOH want to join EU and NATO which is strongly opposed by Serb minority…this is just to give you quick political background… 🙂
More importantly, Novak’s grandfather originates from Montenegro as he was born here…some people claim he is therefore not Serb but Montenegrin instead…this is where all the support comes from…however, Novak never claims he is Montenegrin, but accepts the hospitality of Montenegro, holds properties in Montenegro and has huge fan base…
people cheering for Rafa or Fed to that end are not well received…when I explain that I was cheering for Rafa even before Novak was considered a force in tennis and that I have nothing against Novak but simply like Rafa better, they generally judge me and disapprove…it is not easy to be non-Novak fan here… 🙂
Thank you for explaining the historical and political background. I admire your courage in openly stating your preference for Rafa and running the gauntlet of hostility you encounter.
I live in France and the majority of my friends are Federer fans who never miss out on the chance to ridicule and decry Rafa but are prepared to indulge me for hero worshipping him and attribute the abberation on my part to the fact I’m English.
Not just France ed but Canada too and I’d say every country outside Spain and Serbia as well.
#ZombieApocalypse
ed251137 (at 11:34 am),
Rafans are everywhere! One poster has made a huge longtime effort on this website to convince readers of the opposite. 🙂
October 19, 2015 at 1:39 pm,
Your lie has a short life. The story:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRr3cuHWoAErDSI.png:medium
October 19, 2015 at 2:22 pm,
Your complaint seems incorrect to me.