BY JAMES BECK
CHARLESTON, S.C. – – Isn’t it a little funny the way some things happen.
It didn’t take long for me to join the Rafa Nadal fan group once he ended Roger Federer’s string of five straight Wimbledon titles in 2008, even though Federer was still the overall fan favorite in men’s professional tennis.
I started out pulling for Novak Djokovic back in the days when the Serbian was winning as a young man.
But Novak kind of got lost in the shuffle until he started challenging Federer in the Grand Slams in the 2007 U.S. Open where Novak was runner-up.
It was all Roger and Rafa until then.
But Novak stepped up and won the 2008 major Down Under. And from then on, it was a new game until Roger and Rafa left it.
EVERYONE PULLS FOR NOVAK THESE DAYS
And now when Novak owns just about every record in men’s tennis as he still plays a pretty good game while Roger and Rafa are retired, I may be a Djokovic fan. Tennis followers can’t help but pull for Novak, even though he’s 39 years old now.
With a record 24 Grand Slam titles already in the record books, Novak has to be playing for fun. But he doesn’t play like it.
Obviously, he’s still aiming for another Grand Slam title. Maybe it won’t be so hot at Wimbledon.
This could have been the perfect year for Djokovic to claim another title with No. 1 ranked Jannik Sinner already eliminated in the most startling upset the tour has seen in a long time, and the exciting game of Carlos Alcaraz already sidelined by an injury.
SINNER SHOULD HAVE HAD A CAKE WALK
Sinner should have won in the second round in a cake walk over Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina, but he obviously didn’t prepare quite enough to beat the heat in the French Open. That was it. Heat was the opponent, not the talented Cerundolo. Sinner proved that when he surrendered just five games in the first two sets before the heat took over for a 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 victory by the 56th-ranked Cerundolo.
Of course, the kiddish-looking Cerundolo later lost to Matteo Berrettini in the round of 16.
Cerundolo could run all over the place at any time once the sun hit home on Sinner after the those first two sets. Other than his quickness, Cerundolo didn’t belong on the same court as Sinner.
Cerundolo proved that when he lost in straight sets in the round of 16 to Matteo Berrettini, the lowest-ranked French Open quarterfinalist since 2007.
DJOKOVIC HAD HIS CHANCES
So much for Sinner.
But Novak was still alive when he faced 19-year-old Joao Fonseca in the third round, and Djokovic still had a chance to win another major title. He was still ranked fourth in the world. He might even have been the favorite, other than always talented fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev.
But no one apparently knew about Joao Fonseca, a 6-2 19-year-old from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Even in the same type of heat that Sinner experienced, Novak looked just fine in winning the first two sets against Fonseca
But it was almost a carbon copy of the other South American’s sudden eruption after the first two sets against Sinner.
LOOK OUT FOR ZVEREV
Novak simply became almost helpless against Fonseca’s mighty game after those first two sets that Djokovic won 6-4 each, although he owned 5-4 leads in each of the last two sets before losing, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.
It looks like clear sailing for the veteran Zverev to win his first Grand Slam title, not counting his 2020 Olympic title. But he should be tough enough to take care of Fonseca for three sets.
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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.
