Retooled Novak Djokovic Has Hall of Fame Career Ahead

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: February 6, 2011

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Precise time frames escape me, but at some point in the past 18 months, my good friend Rajat Jain compared Novak Djokovic to Pete Sampras.

Both men had won their first majors at a very young age (Sampras was 19, Djokovic 20) and spoke frankly of wanting to be No. 1.

However, both of them soon found that Grand Slam glory brings a new weight of expectations, and both soon found themselves beset with struggles relating to their conditioning, their on-court tactics, and even their technical skills.

At the time, I couldn’t quite buy into the comparison. Sampras, for one thing, was a far bigger surprise when he won the 1990 US Open than Djokovic was at the 2008 Australian Open.

Sampras had one just one title and a pair of fourth-round appearances in majors going into that event. In 2007, Djokovic had won two Master’s Shields, beaten both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and reached the final of the ’07 US Open.

Furthermore, Djokovic was a much more developed product than Sampras, who possessed an attacking game early on but not the best net coverage or the best instincts regarding when to go in.

Pete Sampras circa 1991-92 had clear room for improvement that the Novak Djokovic of 2009-10 apparently did not.

Now, though, Rajat’s view looks prescient. Much as Sampras did, Djokovic required a retooling period of nearly three years before winning his second major.

Time spent in the Davis Cup trenches paid off with a championship for Serbia in December, and Djokovic has since emerged a tougher tennis player, both physically and mentally.

Struggles with service and forehand technique are a thing of early 2010, and prior respiratory problems did not emerge during a strenuous three-hour grapple with Federer in the AO semis.

Since 2003, Djokovic is the only player to have beaten Federer in straight sets at a Grand Slam event not played on cl...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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