Novak Djokovic: Riding on Confidence

‘’I'm really happy with the shape I'm in in this moment. Confidence is really important in this sport, in any sport. Right now I think I have good confidence.’’

The words come from Novak Djokovic, who a few months ago had shown the entire world a pathetic picture of the defeated when he retired midway through his quarter-final against Andy Roddick at the Australian Open this year.

That was Nole then, fatigued and well-beaten by circumstances.

Three months later, it is now the resplendent Nole speaking of confidence and giving a resonant reply to his biggest detractors.

Yes,we had missed the confident smile for a long time from the boy who stunned the world by toppling the then-defending champion Roger Federer in straight sets at the 2008 Australian Open.

The world saw the arrival of a new champion who could demand his share of glory and snatch it from the hands of the supreme Federer.

Titles at Indian Wells and Rome followed and then the drought, marked by poor fitness level induced retirements, in spite of being engaged in some of the most exhilarating battles.

Critics started speaking up.Some of his trusted fans started resorting to cynicism, writing him off as yet another one-time Slam wonder.

Six months later he captured the prestigious Tennis Masters Cup,arousing hopes again of his successful defence at Melbourne Park only to be heartbroken by his disappointing exit.

At last everything started falling into place and patience started paying off at Miami. Yes, we waited too long for this. The world has finally started taking Nole a little more seriously.

His face has never looked so happy,the eyes have never sparkled so brilliantly,the countenance has never been so fearless and confidence has never exuded so much from the 21yr old Serbian’s body-language.

And why not? After a title at Dubai,he has now reached the finals of 3 consecutive Masters,only to lose to Andy Murray at Miami and the indefatigable Rafael Nadal at Monte Carlo and Rome.

He has got the better of Federer twice in the last couple of months on two different surfaces and in both he was down by a set.He has learnt to translate confidence into execution of the right shots and forced submission of his opponent.

He reached his first Monte-Carlo final and had a brilliant adversary in Rafa,but refusing to be deterred from,he played a spectacularly aggressive game dotted with pounding winners.Tactics payed off and he became the first man to win a set off Rafa on the red dirt this year.

He carried on the confidence to Rome and although he failed to take a set this time,he gave a fight which was nonetheless enthralling.

He can aptly call himself the current second-best player on clay.

The first serves are more in now,the shot-selection perfect, the angles working amazingly, the volleys are vicious, which were not so a few weeks ago and above all the man has never looked fitter.

Under the tutelage of Gebhard Phil-Gritsch (Thomas Muster’s trainer), his fitness has shown fantastic progress and the exhausted,heavy-breathing pictures of Nole are of past now. The hot and humid conditions of Rome did not trouble him any more.Touchwood! He has seemingly defeated his biggest rival and hope it remains so.

Ironically he will lose his No.3 ranking at a time when he has just embarked on a journey with renewed confidence.

Yes,confidence,that’s the word that has brought back the Nole we were so familiar with.

The impish grin is back,the self-belief is back,the flamboyance is back, the flawless impersonations too are back.

And he looks set to emulate his feats at the upcoming Madrid Masters and Paris where he has never gone beyond the semis.

But before that,hometown Belgrade awaits to see their beloved hero in the first ever Serbian Open, which would obviously add to Nole’s title kitty this year.

Novak Djokovic is surely enjoying some of the most wonderful days of his career.