| 23 August 2011
One year on since Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in the final of the US Open in four sets at Flushing Meadows and the only word that can describe what has happened since: incredible!
Following that win, tennis pundits were suggesting that Nadal, now that he had completed a career Grand Slam, was capable of going on to overhaul the record tally of 16 Grand Slam titles held by Roger Federer. There was very little evidence to suggest that much stood in his way since Nadal had proven, particularly with the 2010 win over Djokovic at Flushing Meadows, that he had the measure of those rivals closest to him; regardless of the surface, he was justifiably ranked number one in the world and playing sensationally well.
That was 12 months ago, and since then a lot has changed. Those same plaudits have had their opinions changed completely to the point that they are now suggesting that Djokovic is the man who could overhaul Federer's Grand Slam total, eclipsing Nadal's achievements in the process.
Without any warning, Djokovic has suddenly raised his already outstanding game to new heights and continues to raise to standards that the tennis world has seldom seen before.
From January 2011, Djokovic has played 54 individual tennis matches on all surfaces and has lost just once, which came against Federer in the semi final of the French Open on clay at Roland Garros. Nadal went on to win the final giving him his tenth Grand Slam success, but Djokovic had already picked up the Australian Open in January after his one-sided victory over Britain’s Andy Murray.
In that 54 game streak, Djokovic has taken two Masters 1000 Titles defeating Nadal in the finals of the Rome and Madrid. Two wins that came after the Serbian had already won the first two Masters 1000 titles of the year at Indian Wells and Miami, where he also defeated Nadal in both finals.
After his only defeat of the year, Djokovic gained revenge on Nadal by winning Wimbledon, defeating Rafa for the fifth consecutive time in a final in 2011; the win also confirmed Djokovic as the new world number one in the ATP rankings. Since then the "Serbinator" has gone on to create a new world record of five Masters 1000 titles in one season, this came last week in Montreal where he beat American Mardy Fish in the final. Interestingly, Nadal, Federer and Murray all went out of this tournament early and now they have only one chance to gain a psychological edge over Djokovic, that comes this week in the Cincinnati Masters. After Cincinnati, the tennis circuit returns to Flushing Meadows for the US Open.
As it stands, there is no one in the world that would suggest that Djokovic will not win his first US Open crown as he is proving beyond any doubt that he is the new star of the sport and his rise has come at a time when tennis - certainly in the men's game - has never been played at a higher level.
At the age of 24 and with only three Grand Slam titles to his name, Novak Djokovic has some catching up to do if he's to surpass Federer's record, but the way he has played over the past 12 months, who can discount that he won't be around to dominate the game for the next few years, starting at Flushing Meadows later this month.
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