Novak Djokovic - The court jester who became a King!

A couple of years ago,when you would say the name Djokovic to a decent tennis follower, they would reply with something along the lines of ‘He does amazing mimicry of other tennis players’. The fact that he could play amazing tennis seemed to be lost on the general public. This keeping in mind that he had already won a Grand Slam, the Australian Open in 2008, beating a rampaging Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. However, ever since that win, he seemed to have developed a rather impetuous habit of self-destruction in the latter stages of big tournaments. He had also begun to lose some of his sharpness, and by his own admission, things off the pitch started taking a toll on him.

The year 2010 proved to be a huge turning point for him. He changed his lifestyle, his diet, and most importantly, put tennis before all his other extra-curricular activities. His efforts began to show results within a short frame of time. He displaced Roger Federer, probably the greatest player in the history of tennis, to the 2nd rank in the world last year. Another huge milestone for him turned out to be the Davis Cup win for Serbia last year. That win instilled within him the confidence to take on the world. He hasn’t looked back since.

His record for 2011 stands at 67-2. That is 67 wins and 2 losses. He is in the form of his life and has taken his game to an all-time best level. It is almost flawless at times. The fact that he is concentrating more on tennis hasn’t taken the away his naughty side. He still mimics other players, with Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal his favourite targets. It must be kept in mind that it is all done in good humour, and the players on the tour have all taken it in the right way. A recent press conference where Caroline Wozniacki, the women’s world number 1, interviewed him, was a treat for the audiences(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3x34FMHt3U). He also turned up as Maria Sharapova in a promotional event just prior to the US Open. That however, did not stop him from winning his 4th Grand Slam a fortnight later.