Wimbledon 2011: A New Era Has Begun, and It's Novak Djokovic's Time

It’s official now. There is a change in the guard in Men’s Tennis. Novak Djokovic is the new king of tennis after beating Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 Sunday to win his first Wimbledon title. He has now beaten Rafael Nadal five times in the past six months.

This year has been Djokovic’s best season, winning eight out of nine tournaments, including seven tournaments in a row and a record 43 straight wins. With his seven wins in Wimbledon, his record this year now stands at 50-1.

Djokovic has now won 26 career titles, of which three are in a Grand Slam—the Australian Open in 2008 and 2011 and this year’s Wimbledon. Among his past achievements are the Davis Cup won with Serbia last year.

“Nole” was born May 22, 1987 in Belgrade, Serbia. He speaks five languages and easily could have been a skier or soccer player. He began playing professionally in 2003.

Tomorrow morning, after eight years as a professional tennis player, he will become the first Serbian player to have ever reached the number one ranking in the world, ending the dominance of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Until now, for most of the past decade, Roger Federer had been the top of Men’s Tennis. He was the nearest thing to Mr. Flawless as you can be. He held the #1 ranking for a record 160 consecutive weeks, but to many of the potential top marketing companies he was considered a little “boring”.

Federer’s nemesis was Rafael Nadal. He was Federer’s complete opposite: muscular, with long hair, long pants, and displayed a fiery look on the court that intimidated most opponents. He had what Federer lacked, but to many he came through as arrogant and cocky.

Nadal earlier was known only as the ruler of the clay courts until his epic win over Federer at the 2008 Wimbledon. Since then Federer and Nadal held the #1 ranking at some point

For four years, Djokovic was hovering around, on the outside looking into the Federer-Nadal reign as the third player in the world. Now, he will not only be the #1 player in the world, he will be the face of Men’s Tennis for the years to come.

Djokovic is a marketer's dream as he comes through as a mix of what Federer and Nadal are. He not only has all the physical skills and strokes that a tennis champion must have, he also has a personality that draws attention to him.

Let’s take for example, in the Australian Open this year when he had no trouble dancing on the court with a choreographer for the local version of the “Dancing with the Stars” TV show. Or when, this past March, at the 1000 Miami Masters, he organized a benefit soccer match for earthquake victims in Japan.

He has not always been a player's or sponsor's favorite as he came through sometimes as immature. He has been called “The Djokester” for his goofy commercials or his comic relief with funny impersonations of other players, something the players didn't take too well.

But he has let his play do the talking this year. And he did that by winning Wimbledon, beating Nadal for the first time in a major. Especially in a final, it’s an era-changing moment. It’s that defining moment in an athlete’s career.

John McEnroe interviewed Djokovic after the match, and from that interview we had an answer that helps us understand why it’s his time to come now.

McEnroe asked him what he had done with his game to make this achievement possible. The answer was, to his game there were just minor changes, but it was his mental maturity that had allowed him to jump that last hurdle.

Djokovic had been lacking just that, mental toughness. They say tennis is 75% mental, but almost everyone focuses primarily on the physical skills. He now has that mental toughness to go with his game.

He knew that to beat Nadal, he must outlast, outrun and out-shoot him three sets instead of two. He would need to have that mental toughness to keep his focus and impose his game over the relentless Nadal.

The mental edge is something the great ones in all sports have. It’s too early to call Novak Djokovic an all-time great or even predict he will become one.

Nadal and Federer are the world’s #2 and #3, and mostly tower over every other player. Nadal had won four of the previous five Slams, but with Djokovic owning him lately and with Roger Federer on the decline, he looks as the indisputable #1.

You can argue that there are players like Andy Murray, Robin Soderling, Juan Martin Del Potro or Jo Wilfried Tsonga that have all the skills to challenge. But they just don’t have the mental toughness Djokovic now has, and he will only get better.

There is just no other player in the horizon rising up to challenge him. We can just sit down now and watch the Djokovic era in tennis. It will surely be fun to watch.