Joker Continues to Rule the Court

Nobody can seem to stop Novak Djokovic. Not Rafael Nadal. Not Roger Federer. The World's #1 player proved once again that he is in a league of his own in 2011 topping both Rafa and Fed en route to the U.S. Open Championship.  With his third major title of the year, it's clear that Djokovic is having one of the greatest tennis seasons of all-time.

Despite having a huge target on his back over the past two weeks, the Serbian sensation staved off all competitors en route to his first victory at Flushing Meadows. Djokovic finally got over the hump after appearing  in the U.S. Open Finals three times. Even though his foes were an extremely intimidating duo, Djokovic still made it look easy. After a furious two-set come back to take out Federer in the semis, Djokovic smoked defending champion Nadal in the finals. In a match full of runs, the Joker strung together game wins when it mattered most. In each of the first two sets, Nadal got an early break to take a 2-0 lead, but each time Djokovic broke back almost immediately and completely dominated Rafa to take a two set to none lead. Although Nadal did make things more competitive the rest of the way, thanks to a thunderous crowd support, he just couldn't keep up eventually losing four sets. In the end, Nadal suffered his second straight finals defeat at the hands of Djokovic, ending his still solid season on a sour note.

A passing of the torch has clearly happened this year. No longer is the men's tennis game just a two-horse race. Djokovic has clearly placed himself squarely atop the totem pole ahead of the still great, but not quite as dominant Federer and Nadal. I'm excited for the future of tennis, and it's obvious that Djokovic's is very bright.



by Andrew Adamson