Review 2012: Novak Djokovic. Part 2

The grand slam circus moved to Wimbledon, the most prestigious tournament of the year. Djokovic breezed through to the semi-final where he faced Roger Federer, 6 time champion of Wimbledon.
Djokovic had won six of their past seven meetings, including four of their five in grand slams. But this was their first match on grass and that, it seems, was the key. Djokovic had already told the press that he had not been feeling 100% the past few days prior to the semi-final. Federer took his chance when Djokovic had a couple of loose service games, and took advantage of this odd situation for Novak.  Federer's aggression and willingness to attack at every opportunity denied Djokovic the chance of reaching the final to retain his championship title.  Federer eventually won 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 after a four set thriller on centre court.

The event which only comes round every four years then took the attention of all tennis players, the Olympic Games. The athletes returned to Wimbledon for a second time this summer as the venue played host to the Olympic Tennis Tournament. It is fair to say the Djokovic was inconsistent throughout the tournament, perhaps he was still recovering from Wimbledon which only took place a few months before the Olympics. The Serbian’s first competitor was Fabio Foginini, who he toiled against but eventually beat, but it was a close one for the world No.1. Next up was Andy Roddick, who Djokovic who crushed and stormed to victory.

In the third round Novak came up against Lleyton Hewitt, who Djokovic mostly struggled against considering the Australian player had only returned to the game this year, a disappointing match for the Serb but nevertheless he pulled through. After a disappointing performance the match before Djokovic had some luck and faced a tired Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals, the Serb went onto win but faced the home ground favourite, Andy Murray in the semi-finals. In the semi-final Djokovic led countless times in Murray's service games, but was unable to break. His decision-making was questionable, and when he got the shot he wanted, he'd often miss. Djokovic lost his match against Murray and went onto the bronze medal match against Argentine player Juan-Martin Del Potro. Although the stats are in Djokovic’s corner, Del Potro went on to a convincing win clinching two sets against the world No.1.

So the last grand slam of the year had arrived, the US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York City.  Novak Djokovic hoping to but behind his disappointment at the Olympic Games and focus his mind on retain his title at Flushing Meadows. Djokovic dominated his first match at Flushing Meadows. The Serb only lost two games against his challenger Paolo Lorenzi; the second time they’ve met in a first round match this year after Djokovic defeated him at the Australian Open in January. The only time Djokovic looked unsettled was in the first game of the match in which he was broken. After that Djokovic went onto 12 game winning streak. Lorenzi failed to dent the powerful shots and solid defence of his flexible and sometimes flashy opponent to lose 6-1, 6-0, 6-1.

It was off to the second round for Novak Djokovic and an easy afternoon win against Rogerio Dutra Silva defeating him 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.  "I didn't know much about my opponent -- never saw him play. So that could have been, you know, a difficulty at the start in order to figure out what his game plan was” So perhaps it was an un-nervy situation for the Serbian has he could not figure the shots that his opponent is known to use or his opponents technique that he may use during the match. Nevertheless with little work the world No.2 walked into the third round.

The American crowd were in for a thriller in the third round match between Novak Djokovic and Juan-Martin Del Potro, Djokovic wanted revenge after being denied the bronze medal at the Olympic Games a few weeks before. After three hours and an incredible second set and world class shot making between both players, the defending champion lived to play another day after a 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 win to take the Serbian through to the semi-final at Flushing Meadows. "Even though it was a straight-set match, it was much closer than the score indicated," Djokovic said after the match. "I was lucky in the second set to get out with a two-set advantage. We played some incredible rallies and incredible points." So for the second  time this summer we had witnessed another thrilling match between Del Potro and Djokovic, tennis fans had been blessed with some of the best tennis that had ever been played. It seems that Del Potro is a thorn in Djokovic’s defensive play, resulting in intense matches with no one being able to declare a pre-match winner. But Djokovic in this match had shown just how he is the master of returns and that his fitness and determination pays off eventually, even if he is written off half way through a match.

Semi-final day had arrived at the US Open and Djokovic was too be challenged by David Ferrer for a place in the final and for a chance for the world No.2 to retain his champions title. With Ferrer, the No. 4 seed, about to serve for the first set with a 5-2 lead over the defending US Open champion, the match was suspended after 32 minutes due to strong storms quickly approaching the area, and all spectators were asked to leave the grounds for the safety of everyone. At this point Djokovic would have known that if he were to win the match then he would face Andy Murray in the final. After the match was rescheduled Djokovic  beat Spain's Ferrer 2-6 6-1 6-4 6-2 in two hours and 32 minutes to reach his fourth US Open final.

Djokovic had reached the US Open final and had a great opportunity of retaining his US Open champion title as he faced Andy Murray. The final had been a close fought match between both players who were sweating desperation for the title, it was both on their horizons and no one wanted to lose. Finally, Murray fought and fought, and in a match that was one minute away from being the longest U.S. Open Final in the Open Era, he defeated Djokovic 7-6 (10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2. Djokovic had lost his US Open title for which he fought so hard to retain, but he lost it in the closest of matches and his determination cannot be questioned.

So all in all it is fair to say that 2012 was by far not as good as 2011 for the season ending world No.1. Djokovic had retained his Australian Open to start the year on a good footing and went on to Roland Garros where he made it into this 12^th final in a row. Unfortunately he lost to the ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal. The grand slam circuit then moved to Wimbledon, another pretentious tournament for the Serbian player who failed to retain his title and didn’t even make it into the final. The Olympics is perhaps another memory that Novak may want to forget this season after losing the bronze medal match against Juan-Martin Del Potro. The finally grand slam the US Open was upon us and Djokovic was dominant and back on form, the Djokovic we knew had returned back to the court. His bid to retain his US Open title was quashed by Andy Murray, but nevertheless the Djokovic we love to watch had returned which was the positive to take from the tournament. 2012 may not have been as good as 2011, but he has finished the year as world No.1 and the real Djokovic had returned, 2013 should be another great season for the Serbian player.