WIMBLEDON - Who said the rankings in tennis don’t make any sense? Tomorrow Novak Djokovic becomes No. 1 in the world for the first time. Today he won Wimbledon, also for the first time, by registering his first victory over world No. 2 Rafael Nadal at a Grand Slam. For once, it all makes perfect sense in tennis.
Two days ago, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was asked to describe Djokovic’s game in their semifinal. The Frenchman, with awe in his quiet voice, said, simply, that the Serb had been "everywhere." If anything, Djokovic was in even more places today.
This reminded me of how Rafael Nadal came along and dominated Roger Federer all of a sudden. Now Nadal is being dominated by Novak Djokovic and he has his number.
It's a changing of the guard in Grand Slam finals.
Rafa hit more unforced errors today than in any other match I have seen him in for a long time. That's because Djokovic pushed him to limits he hadn't been to before.
He certainly had a game plan to serve out wide to target Nadal's backhand. Once the rallies started he took control from the baseline. He had the upper hand the longer that rallies went on and that must have played on Nadal's mind as he wasn't happy from the baseline.
Nadal had to really concentrate on his first serve points and Novak forced him to go for broke early in rallies. It made him feel uncomfortable and that is why he hit a lot of unforced errors because that his not his style.
He thoroughly deserves this, he is number one in the world and he has had the most incredible year so far and I think it will continue.
The fact that Novak has beaten Rafa four times in big finals this year was so significant. Even though he had lost five times in Majors to Nadal, I always thought he was going to beat him at some point and today was the day.
It must be a bit worrying for Nadal. He and Federer have dominated for so long, but now Djokovic has the number one ranking and is the current holder of two Grand Slam titles. I think he is clearly the best player in the world right now.
It is Novak's athletic ability which is his most impressive asset. Nadal is so athletic and he can normally dominate guys from the baseline, but in those first two sets the long rallies were all Djokovic and that is an amazing accomplishment from him.
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