Novak Djokovic: 5 Reasons Why He Can Still Match His 2011 Success in 2012

Novak Djokovic's 2011 was undoubtedly one of the greatest seasons in the history of tennis—he won three Grand Slams and compiled an incredible 70-6 record.

Coming into 2012, the question was whether or not his incredible success could possibly be matched, or maybe even topped. 

The first few months of 2012 have called for some stirs of concern among Djoker's fans.

While his 2011 season began with a whopping 43-match win streak (which ended in the semifinal of the French Open), 2012 saw only 10 wins before his first loss to Andy Murray in Dubai. Considering the fact that he held his Australian Open title, this seems like no small feat, but it is nothing in comparison to what he did last year.

More problems came at Indian Wells.

The 2011 BNP Paribas Open was the tournament in which Djokovic really made a name for himself as an elite player, so his semifinal loss to American John Isner in 2012 was hugely disappointing for his fans.

With all this in mind, it is easy to say that the Serb will not come even close to matching or topping his 2011 season. It is still way too early to make that kind of a statement, though.

Here are a few reasons why.

Rafael Nadal Also Facing Difficulty

Former World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is obviously Djoker's biggest obstacle right now, and Novak's weaker start in 2012 can be seen as an opportunity for the Spaniard to reclaim the throne. However, he doesn't appear to be ready for that yet.

Nadal has seen just as much difficulty (if not more) as Djokovic in early 2012.

He dropped his first match of the season to current World No. 15 Gael Monfils in Doha, and lost once again to Novak in the epic Australian Open final this past January.

He also split his first two matches with longtime rival Roger Federer, and was forced to withdraw from his Miami semifinal against Andy Murray due to a knee injury.

Any kind of hold that has been put on Djokovic's wild success has also been placed on Rafa's game. For now, it doesn't appear as though the Spaniard poses more of a threat than usual.

Increasing Support from Fans

Since the beginning of his rise to the top of the rankings, it has been clear that Djokovic is not one of the fan favorites.

The reasoning behind this is simple: When two of the all-time greatest players are constantly battling in one of the all-time greatest rivalries and someone else steals their thunder, he's not going to receive a warm welcome.

Crowd support for the Serb is increasing with every win, though, and it won't be long before his fanbase is as vast as those of his predecessors. With that increasing support comes an increase in confidence that can only help in big matches.

If Djokovic can win a few more tournaments in the first half of the season, including the French Open, he will likely be able to ride the support from his fans to the end of another phenomenal year.

A Good Reality Check

The second half of Djokovic's 2011 season was not nearly as impressive as the first. Five of his six losses came after Wimbledon, and four of those losses were to players outside of the Top Four.

This late-season slowdown was partially caused by his early success. Novak was held on such a high pedestal in the tennis world that he and his fans felt as if he was invincible, and he probably let his guard down as a result.

Either that, or he had simply exhausted himself in the first six months of the season. Most likely, it was a combination of both.

The two matches that Djokovic has dropped in early 2012 will probably bring him down to Earth a bit. Assuming his mental game doesn't suffer, they should help him in the long run.

Room to Improve at Masters Tournaments

One of the most impressive aspects of Djokovic's 2011 season was his performance in the Masters tournaments. Winning five of the Masters titles, he certainly has a lot of points to defend in 2012.

His semifinal loss in this year's BNP Paribas Open was certainly alarming, but only at first glance.

Fortunately, Djokovic is playing in the Monte Carlo tournament next month, which he did not participate in last year. Assuming that he can reach at least the semifinals, he will be gaining a lot of points and further securing himself as No. 1.

Djokovic also withdrew from the Paris Masters tournament in the quarterfinals last year, so he will be looking to gain points there this coming November as well.

Even if Novak doesn't reclaim each of the five titles that he won in 2011, it doesn't seem likely that he will be losing a lot of points overall in Masters tournaments this year.

Still in the Running for Calendar Grand Slam

In reality, Djokovic only needs to win 21 more matches in 2012 in order to top his 2011 season, if those matches occur during the three remaining Slams.

A Calendar Grand Slam season consists of victories in 28 Grand Slam matches, and Novak has won his first seven in Melbourne already.

The Calendar Grand Slam is one of the most coveted achievements in all of sports, and any player who earns it will be engraving his/her name in the history books. As close as Djokovic was last year, he didn't quite pull it off.

No matter what his final record is and how many tournaments he wins in 2012, if he wins all four Slams, he will have done the unthinkable by topping his 2011 success.