Men’s Tennis in 2015: Was Djokovic’s Season the Greatest Ever?
Was Djokovic’s 2015 season the greatest ever in men’s tennis as The New Yorker claims?
.jpg?rect=0%2C0%2C1536%2C864)
advertisement
- The New Yorker claims that Novak Djokovic’s 2015 was the greatest ever in men’s tennis. But The Quint begs to differ.
- Novak Djokovic has worked extremely hard to become a dominant force in the men’s tennis circuit, but the level of competition in the last couple of years has diminished.
Another season gone and yet again it’s Novak Djokovic who stands as the world number one at the end of 2015. He bagged the year-end number one spot for the third consecutive year.
Switzerland’s Roger Federer fought valiantly throughout the season but couldn’t find a way to topple the three-time major champion this year.
The Serb had a near flawless season. He reached the finals of every event he played except the Qatar Exxonmobil Open 2015, ahead of the Australian Open. The 28-year-old had an incredible win/loss record of 82-6 and won 11 singles titles totally.
The New Yorker claims that the season that Novak Djokovic had this year is the greatest ever in men’s tennis in the open era, even better than Rod Laver’s season in 1969, when he won all four majors and Roger Federer’s 2006 season when he reached the finals of all the majors, won 12 titles and lost only five matches.
Their argument is that Rod Laver and Roger Federer didn’t have as much competition as Djokovic faced in this season.
Surely, tennis wasn’t as fiercely competitive in 1969 as it is today, but winning four majors in one year is no mean feat.
And for Federer’s 2006 season they argued, he faced only two major winners out of the top ten players that he faced in that particular season.
The Quint begs to differ. Novak Djokovic has worked extremely hard to become a dominant force in the men’s tennis circuit and nothing should be taken away from him, but the level of competition in the last couple of years has actually diminished.
The current top five players may have several majors between them but they have been either riddled with injury or age.
Nadal’s Injury Woes
14-time major champion Rafael Nadal didn’t win a single major this year, not even at the French Open where he has a fearsome record. Djokovic might have been the first player to beat Nadal in Roland Garros in five years but he beat a Nadal whose body is badgered with injuries. The most prominent of which is his ankle injury which has disallowed him to play the way he used to in his prime.
The world number five won only three titles this year and didn’t make it to a single semi-final in any of the majors. His most devastating loss was at the Wimbledon, where he was ousted in the second round in four sets to 102-ranked Dustin Brown.
Murray’s Lack of Killer Instinct
Djokovic’s other competitor in this season was Andy Murray. The British lad hasn’t won a major since his historic triumph at Wimbledon in 2013 and has been fighting a back injury ever since.
He underwent a surgery in September after winning the Wimbledon. And after that, he hasn’t been able to impose any kind of dominance. The 28-year-old made it to two major semifinals (French Open and Wimbledon) and the Australian Open final in 2015. He ended the year on a high by helping Britain win the Davis Cup.
Dream Breaker Wawrinka
Novak Djokovic looked in supreme form right from the word go in the 2015 season, and many pundits believed that he would be able to win all four majors in one year, in short, a grand slam.
But his dreams were shattered when he met Stanislas Wawrinka in the final of the French Open.
Wawrinka played a miracle of a game and the world number one had no answer to it. But the 30-year-old had nothing to offer in any other major tournament, finishing the year off with 4 titles.
The Swiss number two has been showing shades of brilliance throughout the course of his career but he hasn’t been consistent enough to be part of the big league.
Federer The Lone Warrior
With all the top players contemplating injuries or lack of form, there was only one man who looked like causing some problems to the world number one. And that was the 17-time major champion Roger Federer.
Federer started the season on a dismal note by being knocked out of the Australian Open in the third round and then picked up some valuable titles as the season went along.
The 34-year-old is not as agile or fit as he used to be ten years ago when he was winning majors in 21 sets. But still with the limited capacity of his body, he is trying to be fiercely competitive.
The Swiss won six titles this year and pushed Djokovic to four sets in the Wimbledon and US Open final. He tried new shots like the Sneak Attack by Roger (SABR) among others, but it wasn’t enough.