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Boris Becker may add a new dimension with his serving and volleying side of the game.
Joker needs to finish off matches quicker (especially Semis) to be able to win more Grand Slam finals, and is currently 6-6 in Major finals.
No doubt the Nadal and Murray camps are watching this very closely.
Becker himself denied Lendl (Murray's coach) at Wimbledon, so there is a bit of history there!
Exciting days ahead in 2014!
Djokovic's new move is all about how to defeat Nadal.
Yes and no.
Bear in mind Numbers 1 and 2 cannot meet until a Final, and they have now opened up a big points gap over Number 3/4 etc.
It's about winning efficiently so as to conserve energy for Finals- ie not so many 5 set Semis, every bit as much as it is about beating Nadal.
Nadal adapted his game in 2013 to hard courts and played more aggressively, and achieved a fantastic North American hard court season.
Joker has responded in devastating fashion since after the USO and is 24-0 heading into Melbourne.
I don't think Boris will change things that much for the AO with the Joker already in such sublime form- other than a few more shortened points, and will probably take a back seat during the clay court season as that was not Becker's best surface.
The keys will then be Wimbledon and the US, where Boris can help.
Yes and no.
Bear in mind Numbers 1 and 2 cannot meet until a Final, and they have now opened up a big points gap over Number 3/4 etc.
It's about winning efficiently so as to conserve energy for Finals- ie not so many 5 set Semis, every bit as much as it is about beating Nadal.
Nadal adapted his game in 2013 to hard courts and played more aggressively, and achieved a fantastic North American hard court season.
Joker has responded in devastating fashion since after the USO and is 24-0 heading into Melbourne.
I don't think Boris will change things that much for the AO with the Joker already in such sublime form- other than a few more shortened points, and will probably take a back seat during the clay court season as that was not Becker's best surface. The keys will then be Wimbledon and the US, where Boris can help.
Not a bad idea, although Borg's era and training regime etc would be somewhat dated now.
Possibly some more contemporary successful clay court player like Thomas Muster or Gustavo Kuerten.
The French is the missing piece of the jigsaw and resume for many a great player, like this article on the Bleacher Report shows:
Sampras obviously is at the top of the tree never to win the French and hence a Career Grand Slam.
He has stated in other articles though that Wimbledon was always his number 1 priority, and did not properly train or prepare for the French.
The problem for players in this era, including Novak, has been meeting the King of Clay at his best, which is akin to beating Sampras at Wimbledon.
That reign can't last forever though, and Joker was oh so close in 2013, within a whisker of taking out Nadal.
Ironically the one Slam missing from Lendl's CV is Wimbledon, but that did not hold him back from helping Andy Murray to realize his dream!
The same could be said of Boris Becker with the French.
Very interesting that Connors didn't compete in the French in '74. Looks like he had a great chance that year to complete one of the most difficult things in all of sports ... winning the Calendar Slam.
Even though he has come along at the same time as the greatest clay-courter in history (Rafa), Joker still needs to win the FO and get the Career Slam or it will be used against him when his career is compared with that of other greats like Fed, Rafa, Agassi...
Very interesting that Connors didn't compete in the French in '74. Looks like he had a great chance that year to complete one of the most difficult things in all of sports ... winning the Calendar Slam.
Even though he has come along at the same time as the greatest clay-courter in history (Rafa), Joker still needs to win the FO and get the Career Slam or it will be used against him when his career is compared with that of other greats like Fed, Rafa, Agassi...
Not sure what happened with Connors during those halcyon but turbulent days in the 1970's.
He still holds the unique distinction of winning Majors on every surface, as the US Open was held on grass and clay during that period. The AO was on grass back then as well.
Mats Wilander is the only other that comes to mind, as the Australian Open was held on grass up to the mid-80s, and he won it on Hard court again in 1988, along with the USO and FO in that one stellar year.
But at the end of the day, it boils down to Slam numbers as to how players are remembered.
A Career Grand Slam, time at Number 1 and H2H's etc are only "'trump cards"" when comparing 2 players - if the players finish on equal Slams.
Sampras is always going to be remembered as a lot better than Agassi, despite Agassi's lone French title.
In the same way if Joker finishes his career ahead of Agassi for example (9 or more Slams), he is better, plain and simple, even if he doesn't win at RG - which I suspect he will even if it is only by outlasting Nadal in career longevity.
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