Novak Djokovic: How a Racket and a Scotsman Threaten to Steal His Thunder

Life has been a bit of a roller coaster for the Djoker of tennis these past couple of years.

If we cast our minds back to the beginning of last year, everyone was talking about the brilliant 20-year-old, Novak Djokovic, who had just claimed his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Tennis was no longer just the Roger and Rafa show...here was a player who could sit up and compete with the two giants of the tennis world.

Djokovic even managed to turn talk of the "Big Two" of the tennis world into the "Big Three" (and of course this has now become the "Big Four" with Andy Murray having recently joined the gang). And yet...a year on, and things seems to have gone a little bit awry for the world No. 3.

There has been much talk of the new tennis racket. Could this be bothering him? Having won the Australian Open and Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai last year with his trusty Wilson tennis racket, he was certainly taking a big risk by deciding to swap to the Head racket. Of course he must be reaping the financial rewards, but is he getting any rewards in the tennis department?

At the moment it would appear not. He first tried out the new racket at the beginning of this year in Brisbane, and that led to a swift exit in the first round. Not so great. However, he did manage to make it into the semis in Sydney and Marseille...a vast improvement. But let’s not forget he was the top seed at all of these tournaments and ranked considerably higher than his opponents.

Of course he can’t be expected to win everything, but a quarterfinals exit at the Australian Open (through retirement) is probably not what he was hoping for when he went in to defend his title. Naturally we can’t just put all of this down to the racket. It was the heat rather than the racket which appeared to get Djokovic at the Australian Open.

We also cannot expect players to be at their best every day. All players have "on" and "off" days. Remember how Roger Federer was taken to five sets by Tomas Berdych in the fourth round of the Australian Open this year and then went on to completely thrash Juan Martin del Potro in the quarterfinals?

However, there is a lot of debate surrounding Djokovic’s fitness and the number of times he has retired during matches (with even the great Federer having something to say on it)...but let’s leave that for another day.

Djokovic claimed his first title of 2009 in Dubai, beating David Ferrer in the finals. But even that did not appear easy, and in the earlier rounds he had seemed to be a little shaky and lacking the form that earned him his first Grand Slam title.

Ferrer quickly managed to get his revenge for the Dubai loss by beating Djokovic in straight sets in the Davis Cup first round, held in Spain. Djokovic was also beaten in straight sets by a phenomenal Rafael Nadal, who looks to be back to his best after having pulled out of Dubai with a knee injury.

What should be particularly fascinating to watch this year is how Andy Murray fits into all of this. Murray has certainly had a better start to the year than Djokovic, winning titles in Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Rotterdam. He was even named as a favourite to win at the Australian Open (which ruffled a few feathers)!

Unfortunately, he lost out in the fourth round of the Australian Open, but we must remember that he was playing a mighty Fernando Verdasco.

Many were hoping for a Djokovic-Murray final in Dubai last month before Murray had to withdraw from the tournament because of a virus. It should therefore be interesting to watch and see how these two players proceed at Indian Wells: Will Djokovic be able to enter with a positive mentality after having lost both his Davis Cup matches? Will Murray have finally got over that pesky virus?

Another note of interest is looking at the head-to-head record between these two players. Currently Djokovic leads the head-to-head 4-2. But what could be highly relevant, should they meet again, is that it is Murray who has won their last two meetings.

With lots of points to defend in Indian Wells (having been champion last year), Djokovic has a lot of hard work to do in the coming weeks. Murray, on the other hand, has much fewer points to defend, having only made it to the fourth round last year. So it will be interesting to see whether Djokovic can hold on to his ranking this year or if the Scot will use Indian Wells to start his bid to overtake Djokovic and break into the world’s top three.

And finally...back to the racket. Although Djokovic has been reported as saying that he is feeling more comfortable with his new tennis racket, it will be certainly interesting to watch and see how 2009 pans out for him. Who even knows if it is indeed the racket which has caused the slightly wobbly start he has had this year?

He is clearly one of the top players in the game right now, and it would be a great shame if his choice of racket stops him from recapturing the form that made him a champion in 2008.

After all, it wouldn’t just be Djokovic who loses out...the tennis fans would as well.