Crack Chances for Djokovic

Novak Djokovic nearly grabbed his winning chances over Andy Murray during their second set final-clash at Miami on Sunday but why there’s still a shift in momentum?

The last forehand volley was tough. If only Djokovic stayed on the baseline, there can be chances on getting near to 40-15 lead.

Seeing Djokovic cracked his chances reminds me of his childhood friend, Ana Ivanovic. This was exactly what happened to Ivanovic in 2009 Australian Open against Alisa Kleybanova.

Perhaps, these two Serbs have still lots of things to learn. They should learn how to focus on controlling the various “pressures” on court. Nole and Ana play tennis well but their level of focus and momentum could immediately be swayed once they became inconsistent with their strokes, especially in serves.

Like Djokovic commented in an interview, “Yet again, I was, I think, the biggest enemy to myself. I was struggling again and adjusting to the heat. was really inpatient at the start. Made a huge number of unforced errors, and he was just playing very solid and waiting for his chances and serving quite well, moving all over the court quite good. Then I managed to come back second set. I didn’t play smart on the 5-3. I had two set points, and I could have served a bit better. He made some good returns on the first set point. On the other set point, double fault. Generally, I’m not really satisfied with the way I played today.”

Another variable these Serbs must consider is the weather. Djokovic is regularly surrendering to heat while Ivanovic had a hard time controlling the breezy-wind back in Indian Wells. I know it’s very tough to control the unexpected but the reality is, being the best tennis player is also about handling the great unexpected scenario, right?

The question now is: is there anything they can do about this problem?