He likes a chuckle on court, does Novak Djokovic. Affectionately known as The Joker, one of the Serb’s favourite crowd pleasers – which he was cajoled into performing at the Rome Masters in 2009 – is an unerringly accurate impression of Rafa Nadal’s laborious pre-service routine. But Nole, as Djokovic is also known, has said there will be no more impressions: a shame, as he also does a brilliant Maria Sharapova. The reason is simple; after a seven-year Nadal-Federer hegemony over the top two ranking spots, number two Djokovic has emerged as the most likely contender to dethrone the kings of the courts since the Swiss usurped Andy Roddick in February 2004. Djokovic is unbeaten this … [Read more...] about Djokovic the joker gets serious about number 1
Madrid Masters
Nadal seeks clay redemption
The Madrid Open has begun in earnest and for local favourite Rafa Nadal, in contrast to last year, it could not have come at a more opportune moment both physically and mentally. At Roland Garros in May 2009, Nadal ceded to Roger Federer the title he had dominated the previous four years, although it was Robin Söderling, in a harbinger of things to come for the now number seven-ranked Swede, who actually dispatched the reigning champion in the fourth round before reaching the final himself. Last year’s French Open was Nadal’s final tournament until the Montreal Masters in October. World number one at the time and coming off the back of an exceptional run of results – Nadal won the … [Read more...] about Nadal seeks clay redemption