2011 is coming to a close in the near future, and this year's tennis has been extraordinary. Novak Djokovic jumped two spots to #1 in the World, leapfrogging Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Then, as Roger Federer sat out of the Asian swing to recharge, Andy Murray had a surprise of his own, jumping to #3 in the World, leaving Federer at #4, the first time he's been outside of the top 3 since he won his first Major at Wimbledon in 2003.
The Reign of arguably the greatest player to ever play the game has surely come to an end, and it seems that Djokovic has overtaken Federer as the main rival of Rafael Nadal. But, the end of a dynasty isn't complete until the ruler is out for good, and unfortunately for Djokovic and Nadal, Federer is staying around and remarkably, at 30 years old, competing with these kids. Federer is the only one to beat Djokovic when he was 100% healthy, which happened in the semifinals of the French Open. Federer may have single-handedly ended a 4 Grand Slam year for Djokovic. Also in New York during the U.S. Open Semis, Federer was up 2 sets to none on Djokovic and held 2 match points for the second straight year, but for the second straight year, lost in five. He hasn't lost a step like everyone seems to think he has. Djokovic came out of nowhere and blindsided everyone.
So, #1 Djokovic, #2 Nadal, #3 Andy Murray, and #4 Roger Federer are sure to battle hard at the year-end championships this year. Nadal and Murray are looking for their first year end title, while Federer is looking for his 6th and Djokovic his 2nd. Federer is great on the Carpet, and is hungry after only 1 title all year.
After 6 weeks off, Federer will look to right the ship, and possibly defeat Murray in the semis, and Djokovic in the Final of the Swiss Indoors in Basel (ATP 500). Today he beat Italian Potito Starace in straight sets to move into the round of 16. Djokovic has a tough first round match with Xavier Malisse, and Murray has an even tougher test in the first round, facing career journeyman Robin Haase. Earlier, Marcos Baghdatis upset Viktor Troicki to move into the next round.
The top 2 (Djokovic and Nadal) will be the year-end 1 and 2, but Federer and Murray could swap depending on results as the season winds down.
Is the emergence of Novak Djokovic good for Men's Tennis?
Federer fans may say no, Nadal fans may say, it's only been a year don't get carried away, Murray fans are saying, what about us? and Djokovic fans are smiling gleefully, while eating a steady Gluten Free diet. And I'm saying, Its great to see some real competition, but it will be tough seeing Roger Federer go sometime in the future. He is the Greatest Player of All Time in my opinion, and I'm not sure anyone will compare. I still think he's got a couple Grand Slam titles left in him, and you know he wants to win the Olympics to get the Golden Slam. Only time will tell, and tennis fans around the globe should be extremely excited to see how 2011 plays out and who will prove themselves in 2012.
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