2017 General Tennis News

Good points LaRubia.  I believe there is more to this story than just Djoker wanting to rest his elbow.  He freely admits that he was worn out and flat after finally winning RG, and that he was searching for motivation.

I personally think this break from tennis has a lot more to do with his mental state than his physical state.  Like you said, a player doesn't fire his entire team over an injury.

I think Djoker probably does need to rest his elbow, but I don't believe he would have taken the rest of the year off if Roger hadn't done it last year and come back strong.  Roger doing it first has given Djoker a "free pass" so-to-speak.  

Still, this is a completely different situation from Roger.  Roger is 6 years older and had never taken a break like this before and wouldn't have had he not required surgery.  Roger took the break because he had to not because he wanted to.

I think Djoker wants too and Roger doing it first has made it "okay" for Djoker.  This is all about Djoker getting his head straight (... and his elbow).

Roger could have retired a long time ago. He has been playing because he loves the game. It will be a good test to see how much Djokovic loves the game and how much fitter he comes back. I respect Novak Djokovic very much for the fact that he has always played the post US Open season with the same intensity every year as he has played the regular season up to that point. He is pretty much the only top player to give it his 100% in that time every year while most top players use those tournaments as an extended off season tuning up for the Year End Championships. But all that extra work has finally caught up with him.
To me, while Nadal is definitely a confidence player, Djokovic is even more a confidence player and needs the winning feeling to build himself. So he really can't take two months off mid season and come back strong. That is not him. But after 30, chances are he will need to do that more and more. That will be interesting to watch. I am not sure he can make quite the splash on his return, the way Roger did.

avasbar wrote:Take as much time as you like Nole 8)

5 more years sounds about right.

A wonderful feel good story for Jack Sock and his brother Eric.

http://tennis.life/2017/07/26/bucket-list-match-socks-atlanta/?platform=hootsuite

For most, tennis is about hitting a ball over the net better than the opponent.

For Eric, for the last two years, it was about getting a chance to play again at all.  And he got to do it with his brother in Atlanta. As Myles writes,

They lost, 6-3, 6-4. But it was the getting there.

What an uplifting story. I hope Eric goes from strength to strength.

LaRubia wrote:It's a bit weird that there was a press conference announced for today but then Novak's doctor already talked that he wouldn't play the USO...

Then Novak also posts a video on FB.

I don't know what to think about this whole situation. If I remember Novak got treatment for his elbow at the USO last year but apart from that I haven't really heard anything about a possible injury.

When you know that you can't play your game because of health problems you don't really fire your entire team like Novak did.

I guess there is more to the story then we know.

It has to be seen how the long time away from the tour will work out for him. Of course many people expect that it will work the same way as for Roger but they seem to forget that it's usually difficult for players to come back after injuries or long time away from the tour.

What Roger achieved this year is outstanding.

I remember McEnroe taking 8/9 months away when he was 27 or 28(?) for personal reasons and although he still won a few tournaments, he never regained his previous dominance - and never won another major, iirc.

Steerpike60 wrote:Good points LaRubia.  I believe there is more to this story than just Djoker wanting to rest his elbow.  He freely admits that he was worn out and flat after finally winning RG, and that he was searching for motivation.

I personally think this break from tennis has a lot more to do with his mental state than his physical state.  Like you said, a player doesn't fire his entire team over an injury.

I think Djoker probably does need to rest his elbow, but I don't believe he would have taken the rest of the year off if Roger hadn't done it last year and come back strong.  Roger doing it first has given Djoker a "free pass" so-to-speak.  

Still, this is a completely different situation from Roger.  Roger is 6 years older and had never taken a break like this before and wouldn't have had he not required surgery.  Roger took the break because he had to not because he wanted to.

I think Djoker wants too and Roger doing it first has made it "okay" for Djoker.  This is all about Djoker getting his head straight (... and his elbow).

I agree, Steerpike.

You can read it all over the press, how it is wise to take breaks etc .....    And a year before almost everybody said that it is a mistake.....

Btw - the new Djoker name from a Swiss news Portal: "Copyvic".  

https://www.watson.ch/Sport/Analyse/368587608-Djokovic-macht-den-Copyvic-%E2%80%93-warum-das-Federer-Comeback-aber-nicht-kopierbar-ist?utm_source=rss

Yup, Kop8sky.  The article below by Pete Bodo says the same things we've been expressing.

http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/20161614/tennis-long-hiatus-help-novak-djokovic-reinvent-himself

wcr wrote:

avasbar wrote:Take as much time as you like Nole 8)

5 more years sounds about right.  

How about 10? It seems very fair to me.

Now, very strange decision. Strange to understand. There were:
- personal issues;
- the guru;
- firing all his staff;
- changing sponsors...

and now he says he is carrying this bad injury for... 18 months?

Imo it can be an injury, of course. But all in all, there is also (and maybe mostly) an absolute lack of confidence, an evident jealousy of Roger (always existent), and the Novak's impossibility of accepting losses. A person who does not accept to lose... will find all the excuses to justify it. The God, as his parents call him, cannot fail.

Well I read Agassi has agreed to still "wait & be with him" in 2018. HMMM!!!

striker wrote:Well I read Agassi has agreed to still "wait & be with him" in 2018. HMMM!!!

Why not, making the big $$$$$ for doing nothing.

striker wrote:Well I read Agassi has agreed to still "wait & be with him" in 2018. HMMM!!!

Yeah, according to Djoker, Agassi will be his head coach when he comes back. I find it very hard to believe that Agassi would want to travel with Djoker full-time. I mean, his kids aren't out of the house yet, are they? Supposedly Steffi encouraged him to help Djoker... but I can't imagine she meant full-time around the world. What is Steffi supposed to do? Stay in Vegas while he does this?

It will be very interesting to see how that actually plays out in 2018.

Actually, Agassi isnt taking any fee- yet.
So I read back along, but then he wasnt being spoken about as his head coach either as he wouldnt be touring with him but seems things may have changed-??

I seriously doubt that Agassi will travel with Djokovic throughout the year. Maybe just for the GS tournaments and the tournaments in the States.

Novak added Mario Ancic also to his team for Wimbledon. I don't know if he would be willing to be on the tour with him the whole year as he has another job.

But the coach issue is also one aspect which Novak wants to solve during the break.

Raonic has yet another coach!!!  Nobody fired, just another hired.

http://tennis.life/2017/08/01/new-coach-milos-raonic-vemic/

This speaks for itself

If you knew Steve Johnson Sr., read this (and have kleenex handy). How Stevie Johnson is coping with father's death:https://t.co/9ZSNgV5dlL

— Colette Lewis (@zootennis) August 2, 2017