Tennis legend Pete Sampras opines that Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic would bounce back strongly next year.
This year has been for veterans Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Sampras believes that the Big Four would be firing all cylinders next season.
This year Murray and Djokovic could not keep up due to various reasons as Federer and Nadal’s career resurged. The Swiss and Spaniard shared the spoils in the four majors. Djokovic called time for the rest of the year after a quarter-final retirement in Wimbledon. The season was largely underwhelming and fans were distraught with his performance and reason he gave. Murray himself suffered from the stress of an impressive 2016 and then a chronic hip issue affected him.
Federer and Nadal took long time off in 2016 and it helped them all through this season. With the time off by Djokovic and Murray, the forthcoming season – as this term slows to an end – would surely be explosive as the stars battle for ratings and victories.
“Oh yeah, I think if you take that much time off, they’re going to be very eager and determined. I’m sure Novak and Andy are going to be right in the mix next year and compete for majors,” Sampras declared.
Injury is the major concern for the Big Four in 2018 as they would surely be motivated enough to fight off one another to a standstill.
Federer would likely keep selecting tournaments to partake while getting the needed rest at his age; Djokovic would be keen on reclaiming his lost glory while combining it with family responsibility; Murray has a lot to prove especially as he seems to be the weakest of the four; and Nadal has to remain fit and keep leading the pack.
The Scot has maintained his spot in the recently released Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Rankings, according to reports.
The rankings released for the month of May see Murray lead the pack as expected ahead of Roland Garros. Novak Djokovic has to prove he is still in the game this month. The Serbian follows in second place ahead of Swiss star Stan Wawrinka.
Murray has 11,870 points far from Djokovic’s 8,085 points. Wawrinka has 5695, and he is slightly ahead of his compatriot Roger Federer who has 5125 points.
Spaniard RafaNadal makes the top five after securing his 10th Barcelona Open title on Sunday. He has 4735 points and makes it ahead of Milos Raonic with 4165. The Japanese Kei Nishikori has ten points above the 4000 mark. Read more »
It was never an easy sail through for Novak Djokovic, former world number one as he had to work hard enough to ensure that he finished on a strong note, thus defeating Martin Klizan in straight sets since returning to the competition on Tuesday at the ATP Acapulco event.
Since his shocking second round exit out of the Australian Open in January, Djokovic has not played. So on Tuesday during the event, he showed some signs of ring-rustiness before heading on to defeat Klizan 6-3, 7-6 (7/4 ) before a loud Mexican crowd.
Djokovic who spoke after the match said that he wasn’t expecting an easy match but was pleased that he had performed well enough to win in straight sets. Read more »
It may seem that his reign over men’s tennis has come to an abrupt end. Djokovic, a three-time defending champion, lost in the Paris Masters quarterfinals, surrendering his No. 1 ranking to Andy Murray.
If he is able to reach the final, the tennis player may rise from his current number two position to the top in the ATP list.
However, to achieve this feat, he needs one more win after defeating opponent Thomas berdych who currently ranks at worlds number 11, the match ended in a margin 0f 7-6(9), 7-5. He is bound to face either Jo Wilfred or Milos Raonic in the semi final match. Tennis star Andy Murray was well aware of Djokovic’s loss as he graced the court with little hesitation to face off against opponent berdych. He only needed four points to overcome the Czech layer.
Despite the fact that Novak had brought a dominant and impressive package and style of play to the Parisian court during the tournament last June, he was not exactly in top form on the fast carpet and suffered a terrible defeat to Marin Cilic with a score margin of 6-4, 7-6(2), this will be the sportsman’s first loss against Cilic in a total of 15 matchups. Read more »
There is no other name that is as much talked about than Novak Djokovic.
He seems to be signified an end of the machine age that had come by in tennis where machines were able to predict who would win as per the capabilities, trends and playing styles. The victory on the clay courts of the French Open Novak was able to prove all the machines wrong. He now holds all four titles at the same time, a feat that has not been achieved since the sixties.
For those who were unable to catch the finals, they missed the chance to see the man running all over, stretching, sliding and spinning the shots, anything but stumbling and falling. Only after he finished and gained his victory did the viewers saw the champion stumble or simply allow he to lie back on the court where he had just spent three grueling hours to gain the win in the French Open. The man was all veins and sinew when he was playing, but the moment he realized that he had bagged the first title in the French Open he seemed to reveal his vulnerable self, struggling to catch his breath. Read more »
Novak Djokovic is not going to feature in the upcoming edition of IPTL which is starting from 2nd of December.
Weariness is the reason citing which Djokovic has decided to keep himself away from the tournament.
Announcing his pull out, the Serbian said, “It was wonderful playing in the first International Premier Tennis League. I was waiting for this edition as well. But, after having such a gruelling season, I have realized it would only be appropriate for me to get switched off so that I can have a few more days to get my body and mind recovered. I convey my best wishes to the slammers. Hopefully, they win the tournament this time around. As far as I am concerned, I would be back in 2016.”
The MD of the tournament Mahesh Bhupati, who has been a renowned doubles player over the years, announced yesterday that on the place of Djokovic, two players in the form of Andy Murray, who had taken part in the previous edition of the tournament also, and Stan Wawrinka, one of the most talked about players on the tour in the last couple of seasons, have been slotted in the Singapore Slammers.
With these two big names joining in, the league is likely to catch a bit more attraction from around the world. Read more »
Greatest Serbian Tennis Players | index | 
October 29, 2017 5:08 am | 
Comments Off on SAMPRAS: DJOKOVIC AND MURRAY TO SHINE NEXT YEAR