Novak Djokovic: Australian Open 2012 Will Be Shocking Eye-Opener for Djoker

In 2011, nobody was more dominating in their sport than Novak Djokovic. He went 70-6, claimed three major titles and a ATP-record five Masters championships in one season.

Now that we’re in 2012, it’s time for the Serb to come back down to earth.

The 24-year-old Djokovic ripped off 41-straight wins to begin ’11 including a victory in the Australian Open. His razor sharp serve was unstoppable. His health didn’t plague him and his conditioning was top notch.

On the other hand, plenty of his top challengers were injured. Rafael Nadal battled a foot problem for the majority of the year. He will be entering the new year completely healthy and eager to regain the top world ranking.

Andy Murray, whom Djokovic beat in last year’s final, has come a long way in the past year. Murray’s confidence grew throughout the 2011 campaign and ended up ranked No. 3 in the world. He will be an even bigger threat in 2012.

Then there’s Roger Federer.

Arguably the greatest player to ever pick a racket, this may be the final year the 16-time Grand Slam winner can win No. 17. His body has yet to fail him, but he knows father time is never kind to players that have hit the dreaded age of 30.

Federer is coming off a year where he didn’t win a single major title for the first time since 2002. He finished 2011 on a strong note and enters the first Grand Slam of the year rested and extremely focused.

Mentally, nobody’s better.

Djokovic skipped out on all ATP-sanctioned events before the Aussie Open and you wonder why. He’s healthy and void of any other big commitments. Does he believe the tune-ups weren’t necessary?

Djokovic isn’t used to being the one with the target on his back. Is he taking his success for granted? Did he fine-tune his game in the offseason? Did he keep his mental edge?

There are plenty of questions revolving around Djokovic and I think that everything that comes with being the No. 1 seed will doom him down under.

Expect Djokovic to start the new season on a sour note.