Novak Djokovic

Djokovic Blows Fish Out of the Water

March 25, 2008

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic is certainly showing that he knows how to come up big when it matters most. On Sunday, Djokovic captured his second title of the season by defeating American Mardy Fish in the final of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

Djokovic, the third seed, had not dropped a set en route to the final beating pesky opponents such as Andreas Seppi, Guillermo Canas and Stanislas Wawrinka in the early rounds. His semifinal contest was a re-match of last year’s Indian Wells final against No. 2 Rafael Nadal (Spain). Nadal defeated Djokovic in that match denying him his first Masters Series title but Djokovic did not let history repeat itself by dismantling Nadal 6-3, 6-2 to reach the final again this year.

Fish, currently ranked No. 98 on the ATP Tour, was swimming with the big boys this week as he overcame all the odds and reached his second Masters Series final ever and his first since 2003. Once a staple in the Top 50, Fish had experienced a swift decline dropping almost 60 spots in the past two months. He has struggled with injuries for most of his career but there were no signs of pain during this tournament as he knocked off three Top 10 players. Taking down No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 7 David Nalbandian and No. 24 Lleyton Hewitt propelled Fish to the semifinals against No. 1 Roger Federer. Fish was then able to do what no other American has done in almost five years; he put Federer on the sidelines with a dominating 6-3, 6-2 win to set up the final against Djokovic.

Djokovic knew that Fish had nothing to lose heading into the final and applied great pressure right away. It looked as though he was going to walk away with his third Masters Shield very easily taking the first set 6-2. However, Fish had the home crowd on his side and broke Djokovic’s serve late in the second set to even the match with a 7-5 win. Djokovic then faced three break points to open the third set but Fish was unable to deliver the knockout punch and Djokovic roared back to take a 6-3 final set victory and the championship.

It was just one year ago that Djokovic sat outside the Top 10 when his appearance in the Pacific Life Open final put him in that elite group for the first time in his career. Since then, Djokovic has won five titles including Masters Shields at the Sony Ericsson Open and the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank as well as his first Grand Slam at the 2008 Australian Open. He has solidified himself as the No. 3 player in the world and is quickly sneaking up on Nadal and Federer. It is not lost upon any of the players that the once-unstoppable Federer suffered his third loss of the year in Indian Wells and has yet to reach a final in 2008. This so-called “fall from grace” is making way for players like Djokovic and Nadal to challenge his No. 1 status.

The next chance for the super Serb to gain ground in the race for No. 1 is when he begins his title defence at the Sony Ericsson Open taking place March 26-April 6 in Miami, Florida. All of the big names will be back in action for the second Masters Series event of the year. The qualifying rounds are already underway and first round matches are set to start on Wednesday but the real excitement is slated for the weekend when Federer and the other top seeds will begin their quests.

Last year, Djokovic came into Miami and surprisingly tore through the competition without dropping a set. This year, he is the one player who comes into the tournament with a huge target on his back. Unlike Federer and Nadal, Djokovic has not shown any vulnerability so far this year. He is the man that everyone wants to beat and he will have to compete at his highest level to secure a second straight Masters Series event.

Other players to watch at the Sony Ericsson Open are Andy Murray, a semifinalist last year, American fan favourite Andy Roddick, who has won only one Masters Shield since his 2004 Miami title, and players like Fish, Canas and Tommy Haas who are determined to make triumphant comebacks to the top of the rankings.

On the doubles side, the Israeli team of Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich are officially a force to be reckoned with compiling a 17-3 record this season. Like Djokovic, they have captured the Australian Open and Pacific Life Open titles in 2008. In Indian Wells, they defeated Toronto’s Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia) in the final and did not drop a set the entire tournament. Despite the loss, Nestor and Zimonjic seem to be rounding into form after a rough start to the year having played their best tennis as a team in Indian Wells. They will hope to go one step further in Miami as will the Bryan brothers who are still searching for their first championship of the year.

As each week passes in 2008, the perennial favourites in men’s tennis become slightly more human and the new superheroes gain more power. Be sure to keep an eye on the Sony Ericsson Open to see if this trend continues.