Australian Open - Factbox: Novak Djokovic

Sun, 29 Jan 15:09:00 2012

Factbox on Novak Djokovic, who won his third Australian Open title at Melbourne Park, beating Spain's Rafa Nadal 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 in the longest grand slam final ever.

2012 Australian Open final. Djokovic Nadal - 0

EARLY CAREER

* Born: Belgrade, May 22, 1987

* Began playing tennis aged four.

* His father was a professional skier and wanted his son to be a skier or professional soccer player but changed his mind when Djokovic excelled at tennis from an early age.

MAKING HIS MARK

* First full year on tour in 2005, made grand slam debut as a qualifier at the Australian Open, losing to Marat Safin in the first round. Finished as the youngest player (18 years, five months) inside the top 100.

* Coached by Slovak former ATP professional Marian Vajda since 2006.

* In 2006, he won his first ATP tour title at Amersfoort, followed that with second title indoors at Metz.

GRAND SLAM AGONY AND ECSTASY

* He retired in the 2006 French Open quarter-finals against Nadal when trailing by two sets and again a year later due to blisters in the Wimbledon semi-final against the same opponent.

* In 2007, he won five titles (Adelaide, Miami, Estoril, Montreal and Vienna), made the semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon and advanced to his first grand slam final at the U.S. Open, losing to Roger Federer 7-6 7-6 6-4.

* Broke the Federer-Nadal grand slam duopoly by beating Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets to win his maiden major title at Melbourne Park in 2008.

* Failed to defend his title in Melbourne the following year after controversially pulling out of his quarter-final against Andy Roddick citing heat exhaustion on a sweltering day.

* Lost in the quarter-final at Melbourne Park to Tsonga in 2010 when he suffered a stomach bug.

* Upset Federer in the semi-finals of the 2010 U.S. Open before losing in four sets to Nadal in the final.

* Led Serbia to their first Davis Cup title with victory over France in Belgrade in December, 2010.

SUPERB SEASON

* Began 2011 by winning the Australian Open, beating Andy Murray in the final, to end his three-year wait for a second grand slam.

* Won his next six tournaments in Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Belgrade, Madrid and Rome. He did not lose again until June 3 when Federer ended his 41-match winning streak in 2011 in the French Open semi-finals.

* Secured the number one spot on July 4 by beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Wimbledon semi-finals, then beat Nadal to clinch his first Wimbledon title, his first on grass.

* Won a record fifth Masters title in a season when he won in Toronto, one of the lead-up events for the U.S. Open.

* Saved two match points to beat Federer in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open then defeated Nadal in the final to become just the seventh man to win three grand slams in a year since tennis turned professional in 1968.

DOMINANCE CONTINUED

* Chose not to play any warmup events before Australian Open title defence and has been troubled with allergies and problems with his breathing throughout the tournament, notably against David Ferrer and Andy Murray.

* Looked out on his feet in his semi-final against Murray but rallied with a blistering fourth-set performance that got him back into the match.

* Won his third Australian Open title, and fifth overall to continue his dominance of the men's game, when he beat Spain's Nadal in five hours and 53 minutes.

Reuters

Comment 4 - 23 of 23

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  1. Mirjana, Nahhh don't worry I won't trouble my­ head about Novak's health too much. Just expressing­ my IMO or my points of view or my freedom of speech­ whateva. Maybe I should just praises and only comments ­ nice things about Novak next time , yeah­ right!!!lmao...

    From Rash, on Mon 30 Jan 22:22

  2. Rash,
    Novak has all those health problems during his­ entire sport career. Health problems trouble him very­ much sometimes , but he learned to live with them and­ how to exceed them. If he does not have them, he will­ be at this stage a few years earlier. So, pls don't­ trouble your head too much with Novak's health, he­ has good qualified team who cares about that very well.

    From Mirjana, on Mon 30 Jan 21:31

  3. So he has been troubled with allergies and problems­ with his breathing throughout the tournament. Sound to­ me he got speedy recovery in tennis history in the open­ era ever. Just like final at Cinny with shoulder­ injury, boy!!! did he looked so much in pain and yet­ during USO 2011 he's flying. Maybe he's just­ faking his injuries, allergies, breathing problem or­ whatever comes next to get some 'legal drugs'­ to help him through. Interesting though to read about­ his grand slam agony and ecstasy, a bit curious about­ his superb season and wait and see about his dominance­ continue.

    From Rash, on Mon 30 Jan 21:07

  4. If this is the way tennis is now going to be played,­ then I won't be watching it anymore. What a­ relief ... I can get my life back!

    From plumpot77, on Mon 30 Jan 20:38

  5. dj only won the title becoz nad dropped his balls after­ the 1st set!

    From daly751, on Mon 30 Jan 19:18

  6. Whole tennis world analyzed Novak's game and­ advised Murray and Rafael what they should do vs.­ Novak, almost entire public was on their side at AO,­ but Novak managed and won. Why, how, simply: he does­ not want to regal his titles to anyone, he has worked­ hard for them for years and achieved the highest level­ of playing, his opponents must improve or change their­ playing and to try to earn his titles.

    From Mirjana, on Mon 30 Jan 17:17

  7. He is number 1 this year no doubt! The final was so­ long because the players were evenly matched, and far­ to long time was taken before points..

    From johnny, on Mon 30 Jan 17:14

  8. people like anindita who live in a fools paradise claim­ time and again nadull knows what to do and he will come­ back stronger... blah blah....LOL time has shown the­ door to nadull and the gym boy was sent packing for the­ 7th time in a row.... anindita its called 7-0 in case­ you forgot..and you have the teremity to call federer a­ whiner...
    looks like grief has sent you permanently off­ balance...lol im enjoying the look of the defeated and­ crushed nadull and his despicable legion of loud­ mouthed fans...
    where are the other rafatards, are the­ cowards hiding??
    nitwits like ritesh and rovi tagiyev,­ nabucodonor and his pungent clan where are they?
    they­ made loud noises when federer lost the semis... are­ they pulling their hair out? LOL

    From aaditya, on Mon 30 Jan 17:01

  9. I was privileged to watch this epic and heroic battle.­ I have always been a Roger fan, but these two wonderful­ athletes played with intensity and skill second to­ none. Rafa is a class act, but Novak is busy rewriting­ the annals of tennis. Btw the ladies look attractive,­ but they were a hamburger compared to fillet steak­ [Novak and Rafa]. How on earth can any one in his right­ mind claim that it would only fair if the ladies were­ to receive the same prize money as the men?

    From sannahan, on Mon 30 Jan 15:06

  10. Truth be told....Novak is here to stay. I'm so­ happy for him. I observed last year that on the hard­ courts he found it tougher to beat Nadal...on clay and­ on grass he could do easily. I hope he is able to­ achieve the calendar slam and a certain Roger Federer­ doesn't stop him. Congratulations to all his fans­ he has once again proved his top ranking.

    From Jide, on Mon 30 Jan 14:24

  11. When will Rafa stop Djoko.?Can Djoko win the calendar­ Grand Slam? He won the AO but can he win the French,­ Wimbledon and USO? The French may be difficult as that­ is Rafa's territory but Djoko owns him so it must­ be somewhat easy. We will wait and see come May!

    From EDDIE, on Mon 30 Jan 12:06

  12. What an incredible final, nearly six hours of true­ battle. They were very close together the whole time­ too. I think this match could have gone either way,­ just a few points at the end gave Djokovic the victory.­ I think all of 2012 will be a big battle between­ them. Nadal will be furious that he lost the AO so­ will try to find a way to get the best of Novak­ somehow. What great players, truly astonishing. ­ I'm a Federer fan but I just don't know if he­ can beat either of these two anymore.

    From lux_lux, on Mon 30 Jan 12:04

  13. Sorry Aleksandar, Rafa is not a whiner like Federer. If­ anything this match has actually given him confidence­ as he knows what he has to do to prevail. Let's­ face it, when he won the first set he was aggressive.­ When he lost the second and third sets he played badly­ and Novak played much better. The fourth and fifth sets­ could have been won by both. Rafa knows what he has to­ do, the question is can he? I think he can, but time­ will tell as always.

    From Anindita, on Mon 30 Jan 11:33

  14. Rafa, Fed - be afraid, be very afraid The Djoker 's­ comming to get ya:)

    From Aleksandar, on Mon 30 Jan 6:09

  15. The only way is UP UP UP.. to the 6th! Love it!!! :-)

    From Tomic, on Mon 30 Jan 6:00

  16. Novak Djokovic........you are the man the champion­ Buhateee

    From kola, on Mon 30 Jan 3:26

  17. NOVAK TI SI KRALJ!!! SRPSKI HEROJ!!! Ole Ole Nole­ Nole. You are the man!!!

    From goranstep1975, on Mon 30 Jan 3:00

  18. The next GOAT and more.....for shore!

    From trisicsasa55, on Mon 30 Jan 2:18

  19. NOLE CAR, KRALJ, TITAN,

    From boki, on Mon 30 Jan 0:19

  20. FED VS NADAL , Advantage For Nadal is Age Gap­ .........Against Novak 0/7 Similar in­ Age????????????????

    From Shahid, on Mon 30 Jan 0:11
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