Novak Djokovic Is Now the Real Deal

American tennis fans first really took notice of Novak Djokovic, the 20-year-old Serb (not Croat, as he was mistakenly called during the trophy presentation in Montreal last Sunday), after his back-to-back finals appearances in Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami earlier this year.

After defeating Roger Federer in Montreal last Sunday, serious tennis fans now realize that Djokovic is a legitimate threat to make men's tennis more than just the Federer-Nadal show.

In Masters Series tournaments this year, either Federer or Nadal have won four of the six tournaments played. Novak Djokovic broke up their domination in the other two tournaments.

In fact, the Federer-Nadal domination has been even more complete at grand-slam level. The last time someone other than Federer or Nadal won a grand slam event was back in January 2005 when Marat Safin won the Australian Open.

But as we head towards the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows later this month, Novak Djokovic has to be considered a serious threat to become a grand slam champion. He certainly feels comfortable on North American hard courts.

Federer said he expected Djokovic to be a force at the U.S. Open later this month.

"He's been able to back it up basically for a year now," Federer told Reuters.

"If he keeps this up, he's going to create some chances also at the grand slams because he's already been able to come to the semifinals [French Open and Wimbledon]."

Why Djokovic?

Djokovic has an effective, if not over-powering serve, a steady two-handed backhand and a forehand that looks less likely to break down when compared with Federer's. In the Montreal final, Federer made numerous errors on the forehand side.

Djokovic's record against Federer and Nadal combined is also better than Andy Roddick's or Nikolay Davydenko's (the fourth and fifth ranked players respectively). Djokovic is 3–9 against Federer and Nadal combined, while Roddick is 2–15 and Davydenko is 0–11.

Djokovic's win over Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, who began the week as the world number three, and his victories over Nadal in the semifinals and Federer in the final made him the first man since Boris Becker to beat the top-three ranked players at the same tournament (Stockholm 1994).

"It's an unbelievable win for me," Djokovic told Reuters.

"I can say this was an even bigger success than Miami [in March] because I managed to beat the top three players in the world in the last three rounds. It's like a dream come true."

Djokovic not only beat the top three players in the world but he came out on top of a field that included the top 20 players in the world.

Djokovic suffered a surprise defeat in his first match at the Western and Southern Financial Group Masters, perhaps due to his efforts spent winning in Montreal.

Last year, Andy Roddick picked up a $500,000 bonus for reaching the final of the U.S. Open due to his first-place finish in the U.S. Open Series.

Source: http://www.atptennis.com