Is there ever such a thing as being too dominant for your own good? Because if there is, then Novak Djokovic is in serious trouble.
– Djokovic beats Roger Federer to win fourth Italian Open
– Sharapova warms up for French with third title in Rome
– Going Out: Tennis 360 tournament at Meydan
The world No 1 is accomplishing feats not even Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal have managed to achieve. At the grand slam/Masters 1000/ ATP World Tour Finals level, he hasn’t lost a match since Shanghai last October. That’s 37 straight wins at the highest tier of tournaments in the sport.
This year alone, he has won one grand slam and four Masters 1000 events. He’s on a 22-match winning streak and his only two losses in 2015 have come to Federer in the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai and Ivo Karlovic in the opening week of the year at the ATP 250 in Doha.
Why bother with the smaller events when you can obliterate the biggest ones, right? Wrong! He wanted to win both but was recovering from a virus in Doha and faced Federer on a superhuman-serving day for the Swiss on a fast court in Dubai.
Heading into Roland Garros, which starts this Sunday, only a fool would name anyone other than Djokovic as the top favourite for the Paris crown.
His 75-minute 6-4, 6-3 win over Federer in yesterday’s Rome final is the latest in a series of routine wins over top-10 opponents and made him look completely unplayable. He seems invincible and plays like someone who believes he is.
Surely that’s exactly where he wants to be entering Roland Garros – the elusive major he has been desperately chasing to complete a career grand slam.
His 5th title of 2015. His 4th title in Rome. Djokovic goes into Roland Garros undefeated on clay this year. pic.twitter.com/ag5Eu6NvGC
— BBC Tennis (@bbctennis) May 17, 2015
Ten times Djokovic has competed at the French Open and 10 times he has left a loser. Six of those losses came to one man – Rafael Nadal. The nine-time Roland Garros champion has been like a Great Wall of China standing between Djokovic and his career grand slam dream. But this year is different.
This year Nadal is not himself and will play Roland Garros seeded the lowest he’s ever been there and with five losses on clay in 2015 – a number he hadn’t conceded in 12 years.
Things are just lining up for Djokovic in every possible way and he will know this could be his very best chance to finally win in Paris.
Except sometimes when everything falls into place, you find yourself facing the pressure of knowing something is yours to lose.
While Djokovic has his great form and immense confidence right now to fall back on, he must make sure he doesn’t succumb to the pressure of wanting something too much and knowing he’s the favourite to achieve it.
In a way, a loss to Federer yesterday could have helped ease a little bit of that pressure and he could have gone to Paris without having to face journalists reciting to him every conceivable statistic regarding his winning streak.
Djokovic, more than anyone else, knows the feeling of seeing a winning run end at the French Open. He was undefeated in 2011 all the way until Federer halted his streak at 41, in the semi-finals in Paris. The Serb will do everything in his power not to suffer a similar fate.
As for Nadal, he may have had his worst-ever French Open build-up but he’s always had the ability to turn things around in Paris – a place where he has lost once in 67 matches. Winning a 10th is a big ask and the King of Clay might finally abdicate his throne.
