Newcombe: Djoko, Nadal to struggle in 2012, Fed rising to near Number 1
“Djokovic is really going to struggle the first six months of next year - he’s really knocked himself out…He’s just won so many matches, and it’s been pretty obvious, even at the US Open, he was struggling. I even thought he was struggling at Wimbledon against Bernard [Tomic], but he was able to pull himself together…He was very lucky to win the US Open, because Roger should never have lost that match from where he was. And now since the US Open, there’s injuries, a sore shoulder, a sore back, and when you watch him playing, he’s running on three cylinders, so I’d say that his body, it’s given in. It’s not a lot of time to suddenly suck it up and start the year again and defend everything that he won last year, so I think it will be a superhuman effort for him to repeat the six months that he had. It was an amazing run, and that is very hard to defend.”
“It’s not going to surprise me if, by the end of July next year, Roger is very close to being No.1 again.”
“With Rafa, it’s like the heavyweight champion of the world that’s never been knocked out, and suddenly, gets knocked out six times within the space of six months by Djokovic. He doesn’t have the same self-belief any more. All of a sudden he’s having to face things, questions, that he’s never doubted. So it’s a question of can he get his head around this whole thing, and come back to where he was?”
http://www.theage.com.au/sport/tenni...208-1olbq.html
I totally agree with the Newk. Everything sounds just about right to me. What do you think?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mark / The Mayor on
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Wow! I find what he says about Nadal to be the most interesting. The boxer that has been knocked out analogy. Sounds like a good summation of events; we shall see if it so. Rafa has been brought back to reality this year, very much the way Roger was last year.
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Permalink Reply by Tim Prapong on
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Rafa needs to go back to the serve he had changed. Why on earth is serving with that weird palm upwards cock again? His serve effectiveness at the U.S. Open was very low.
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Permalink Reply by Mark T. on
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I don't know that I agree with Roger becoming #1 again. Nobody fears him like they used to in the past. Yes, he had an incredible run in October and November, but that was with injured or thouroughly exhausted competition. The Djoko injuries probably present the most concern, just how serious are they. I think the Davis Cup victory will totally revitalize Nadal. He might have been down, but I don't think he is out. Look at the way he rebounded from his year of injuries he recently had. A good break, cleansing of the mind, and he will be back with a vengenance.
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We will have to see how the Australian and French shapes up. If Fed trips up on a big hitter, that can always happen. Nadal did look really good against Delpo. It is all slim margins we are predicting on, but the overall sense Newk is very close to my own. I think Fed is far more revitalized than Rafa is though.
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The Newk beat Jimbo: 1975 Australian Open final. John Newcombe d. Jimmy Connors, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7).
Way past his prime and in Jimbo's early prime!
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Puts Jimbo on the stool chasing lobs. lol
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