Djokovic's Unforced Errors..Reason of Concern

Strategies, Determination, Game plan, Hard work and the most important Self belief is what is required for a sportsperson to conquer the furious attacks from his opponent. Novak Djokovic has lacked his usual charm this year and was pushed into the corner by Nadal in all encounters that he faced the Spaniard.
When I watch the highlights of this year's US open final, Nole seemed lost, confused, unmotivated and also overconfident at times in sealing the opportunities for break points. The loopholes in his game have generated enough doubts about the Serb's ability to face the adversity from Nadal in recent times.The need of the hour for Djokovic could well be to figure out how substantial are the Unforced errors count that he has committed during this year's slams.

It could well be evident from the US Open final that, somewhere deep in his mind, his self belief has been shaken and needs to rejuvenate himself to face the prospect of Nadal gaining momentum on hard courts, which could well be said to be Djoker's forte.So far the year has been a roller coaster ride for Novak, after having won Australian Open, the Serb has Just won 2 tournaments out of 11 he has played ( Dubai, Monte Carlo). Novak Djokovic needs to boost up and display at least a glimpse of his 2011 form.

I have made a brief analysis of Novak's Unforced Errors count in Grand slam tournaments this year.

It can be seen from the graph, that there is sharp increase in Unforced errors count as the Grand Slam tournament heads into the 2nd week ( 4th Round and later ). Despite his Unforced errors of 61 in Australian Open final as against just 46 from Murray, Novak managed to win the Slam, but the trend continued at Other slams too.
At the French Open, Nadal terminated Djokovic's run in the semis, a 5 set thriller but the same story had repeated of committing a whooping 75 Unforced errors from Novak's Racket as against 44 from Nadal's Weapon.At The Championships, it was 40 of Djoker's to just 21 of Murray's and finally at US Open, Novak fired 53 Unforced errors to a mere 20 from Nadal.

It is quite clear from the above statistics that Djokovic has had a lot of Unforced errors committed after the 4th round and so. It might be a fair indication of Djokovic's game plan for the Top players he faces in these latter rounds of slams.We can just make an impression out this that Djoker's plan may be completing the points faster and being aggressive, in doing so he overplays a shot, which unfortunately turns out to be an error. A Cumulative analysis in the form of Pareto Chart can be viewed more easier and give us a more clear picture of Djokovic's faults..

About 72% of Unforced errors  ( on cumulative basis ) are being contributed at the 4th, QF, SF and Final stages of a Grand Slam. If at all Djokovic concentrates on reducing his Unforced errors count, it would be an added advantage for the Serb to counter his opponents.

A more focused, more composed and more determined Djokovic, is what we expect to see for the rest of the season and it would be very challenging for Djokovic to defend his points as Nadal has nothing to loose and would just go on add to his tally to end the Year as World no.1.
The Next tournament both Nadal and Djokovic play is the China Open, which begins September 31. Djokovic is the defending Champion there and it could be the result here, which could finally seal the fate of Nadal being ranked no.1

Invincible Rafa..

Its simply unrealistic and unbelievable to watch the onslaught and battle between the two very best Tennis players right now. Rafa having been out for nearly 7 months of  action, has returned as more hungrier,inspired and willing to let himself through sheer pain and hard work to achieve new heights this year. Having already won 10 titles, 05 of which are ATP 1000 Masters which equals Djokovic's record of 2011 and highest so far.

Rafael Nadal seems so flawless and extremely poised in doing what he is known to be the best. Coming into US open as the hot favourite to win the tournament, Rafa proved every bit of it right. He was calm, composed and focused, unlike Djokovic in winning the finals.

Nadal Outclassed Djokovic in each and every aspect of the game. He had won 95 off 99 service games at the US open, out of which he had lost just one service game before the finals. This is enough to indicate the magnitude of his high quality service games.

The Main indicator as previously predicted was the Unforced errors from Djoker's weapon that helped Nadal in some way or the other, not taking away credit from Nadal's superb display of high quality consistent ground strokes. The degree of top spin that Nadal generates on his Forehand, has even the best of players fault with the best of their strokes. Djokovic tried to put Nadal on back foot with his shoulder height serve, significantly known as the kick serve, but Rafa was rock solid in returning whatever was being thrown at him. This was clearly visible with Nadal winning 45% of return points, a number he had not been able to get against Djokovic ever before.

The match was clearly dominated by Nadal for the Ist set as he produced scintillating forehand, backhand slices and enormous top spin to break into Djokovic's game. Nadal had committed just 02 Unforced errors compared to 11 of  Djokovic in the Ist set.

The turning point of the match could well be considered the 9th game of 3rd set, where Djokovic was 0-40 up on Nadal's serve, this was the best ever comeback in a game i have ever witnessed, as Nadal bounced back with a bang and won that game and went to break Djokoivc in 10th game to win the 3rd set.
The 4th set a mere formality as Nadal overpowered Djokovic to Win the 13th Grand slam, just one short of Pete Sampras's  14.

The Debate for the Greatest Of All Time, would just sizzle up once again as Federer's slump in form and growing age could hamper his chances of winning another slam. Nadal at present is Class apart from the rest, his confidence oozes out in every stroke he plays and his utter determination to prove himself gives us a measure of how difficult it would be for Novak and Others to resist the Challenge from Rafa.
The Injuries are ephemeral with time and Rafa has given us enough reasons to believe that he can overcome them with great courage and motivation. For the moment Rafa seems Invincible and it would be very Interesting to watch out for the rest of the season as He would most likely end the year as No.1, to be regarded as the best comebacks ever.

Tennis has become an integral part of my life and being an avid Djoker fan, Djokovic's loss did hurt somewhere but Rafael is the man  to beat at this moment and if he continues to dominate the ATP tour with the same zeal and enthusiasm, he could probably be the best contender for the World Tour Finals as well at London.

US Open Finals Preview...

Here we are once again at the helm of destiny. Novak djokovic and Rafael Nadal will face each other for the 37th time in their career and 5th time in slam finals.
Nadal leads their head to head with 21-15, with the very recent one being at Montreal semis,where in Nadal won in 3 sets. On the other hand , Djokovic leads with 3-1 in slam finals, wherein the last one was at 2012 Australian open , considered by many as the best match in the open era next to Wimbledon 2008 finals.
This match was the catalyst for Nadal to overcome his instincts of having being beaten by Djokovic for 7 consecutive matches.It was a match that lasted for 05 hours and 53 minutes and the longest Slam Finals in History. Having witnessed Djokovic's dominance on Hard courts in 2011 and 2012, this year we have witnessed what Rafa is capable of on Hard courts. Rafa has 21 match winning streak this year on Hard courts and is just unstoppable against any of the players.Here is a brief statistics of the various parameters, which could  prove very essential in determining the winner of the Finals.

No. Of Games played.
Novak had not dropped a set up until the Quarterfinals at this year's US open. Same as the case with Nadal, who has been very relentless in thrashing his opponents. Novak faced a tough test in defeating Stanislas Wawrinka, wherein he had to play for more than 4 hours and 49  games in all to reach the finals. Whereas Nadal has dropped just 1 set in his 4th round clash against Phillip Kohlschreiber.In that match he played 39 matches, whereas it was all the way straight sets victory in all other matches.


Unforced Errors:

This is can be a Major deciding factor which could make or break Djokovic in the finals. In the Quarters and Semis itself Djokovic committed a total of 45 and 46 unforced errors respectively. You would be astonished to see the stats that Nadal on other hand had committed just 15 and 24 unforced errors in his Quarters and semis respectively. In the whole tournament Nadal had just 130 to 167 of Djokovic's errors.
This speaks a lot about the Game Nadal is going to play against Djokovic. A High count of unforced errors not only gives the opponent an added advantage but proves a lot about the consistency of ones game.
If Nadal is able to keep the momentum running with this less number of Unforced errors, there is no stopping the Spaniard in winning the title.

1st serve points Won:
Having a higher Ist serve points won, is an indication of ones strength in defending his service game. Nadal has had an average 80% of his 1st serve points won,while Djokovic has had won comparatively 75%.
Also Novak's going in for accuracy rather than speed on his 1st serves as the average 1st serve speed 104 MPH compared to 110 MPH Nadal's. Both have made an impact with their dominance over their opponents.

In a short summary, the finals is going to be of aggressive play and who would draw first blood in breaking the other.With Nadal's ongoing slaughter, Djokovic seems to be a tad less confident against an opponent who Djoker has beaten consecutively 7 times. Djokovic would need to up his ante and probably play a game that would make us remember his 2011 form. It would be very interesting to watch as it could be a match, that could put Djokovic to next pedestal, to be even considered as one of the best players in the history of Tennis. For Nadal, it would just only confirm his dominance in the most challenging era of Tennis. Nadal seems the probable favourite for the trophy, but we all know the mental and physical strength that Djokovic possess. If at all Djokovic plays on an aggressive note, sans a very less number of unforced errors, he could well pose a threat for Nadal.
The Match starts at 0200 hrs IST, 10/09/2013. So Guys, Enjoy a scintillating final among the two best players of the world and may the best player win.

Is the Decadence of the King Inevitable...???

Roger Federer, considered to be the King of Tennis, has been on the wrong side of destiny for the past few months. The fall in form may be due to his growing age or a susceptible back injury, but is still a question for his survival in this season. Interestingly, Federer has lost to Tommy Robredo, who in fact is 31 years of age.
Robredo, became the first man to have won 3 consecutive grand slam matches in being 2 sets down at the French Open this year. The Spaniard is in good form and had challenged Federer at a surface which isn't Robredo's Favourite.

The very much anticipated Rafa Roger Quarterfinals, once again could not be a reality. You would call it destiny or may be a lack of confidence creeping in Federer's game.But you cannot rule out the fact that Federer has the ability to bounce back and scarp off all the doubts and criticism to rest.
Federer lost to Robredo in straight sets in the 4th round, 7-6 (3) ,6-3,6-4. The culprit for Federer's loss could be his Unforced Errors which accounted to a total of 43 and also he was able to convert just 2 out of 16 break points that he had. In the end, it was Robredo who had the last laugh and a dream win against Federer.

Robredo could not beat Federer in 10 of their previous meetings as had a 0-10 record coming into this match. Federer failed just at the wrong moment as it could be his last chance, if supposedly considered his age as a factor of hindrance, to reach the later stages of a Grand Slam. Roger was seeded 7th at this year's open, a seed which Federer has not been ranked in a time of Decade. This could only just add to the belief that its time up for the King to hang his shoes.

Federer's loss in 4th round, adds up to his woes of loosing more points than gaining as He had reached the quarters last year. Federer's slide in the rankings would mean a lot to the equation between the Djokovic, Nadal, Murray and Federer. This could possibly mean that Federer could meet the Top 3 at stages earlier than the Quarters at Grand Slams/ ATP Masters.

All in all, the question which keeps on haunting me after every loss of Federer at Grand slam in recent times is that Is the Decadence of the King Inevitable ??? 

And Every time I hope that let this not be true for at least one more Grand Slam.

Quote of the Day:

"I kind of feel like I beat myself, without taking any credit away from Tommy," said Federer.