Articles sur Djokovic

Djokovic: "Ma raquette, je ne veux plus en parler"
Par Laurent Trupiano, lundi 19 janvier 2009 à 12:27

Après avoir craint de devoir jouer un 4ème set, Novak Djokovic a su régler son jeu pour finalement s'en sortir en trois manches et économiser son organisme. En conférence de presse, il est revenu sur cette entame un peu spéciale et sur l'affaire de la raquette.


Est-ce que vous pensez qu’il s’agit d’un bon début de tournoi ou au contraire vous vous sentez notamment contrarié par votre troisième set ?
Bien, c’est un début assez lent. J’ai été breaké dans deux sets. J’ai réussi à revenir, c’est toujours important.

Etiez-vous fatigué dans le 3ème set ?
Fatigué, non

Que s’est-il passé ? (NDLR : Djokovic était mené 4 à 0, deux breaks de retard)
J’ai fait trop de fautes directes et lui a mieux joué.

Est-ce que la chaleur vous a gêné ?
Pas du tout, c’était autre chose, la chaleur est la même pour les deux joueurs.

La pression de défendre son titre ?
La pression est là, je ne peux le nier, mais cela ne m’a pas affecté sur ce match, j’ai tenté de trouvé mon rythme et cela a été long.

On parle beaucoup de votre changement de raquette ?
Changer de cadre a été une décision importante pour moi, mais maintenant c’est de l’histoire ancienne, j’ai décidé de jouer avec cette raquette, l’affaire est close, je ne veux plus en parle d'avantage.

Que pensez-vous de l’idée de déplacer le tournoi en février ?
Il y a beaucoup à dire. Personne ne veut en parler sérieusement. Pour l’instant car on est en plein tournoi. Mais il faudra s’y pencher. On aimerait avoir une meilleure préparation car la saison est longue et la «off season » encore trop courte.

L’ATP a un nouveau boss, c’est une bonne nouvelle ?
Je l’ai rencontré, c’est la bonne personne. Trouver un «boss» de cette qualité pour un poste aussi important ce n’est pas évident. Pour l’instant c’est trop tôt, mais je compte bien lui expliquer ce que les joueurs désirent, on doit être impliqué dans les décisions.

Parce que ça fait longtemps que j'ai pas posté d'article et que celui ci est pas mal.


http://msn.foxsports.com/tennis/story/9391928/Polarizing-Djokovic-searching-for-winning-formula#tb

Polarizing Djokovic searching for winning formula
by Matt Cronin, FOXSports.com

Novak Djokovic is controversial, but he doesn't want to be.

The world No. 3 has a strong desire to be his sport's superior player, but he can't yet stomach everything that comes with it — to be in the spotlight every waking moment, good and bad.

In public, the 21-year-old Serbian can't be the funny guy anymore. There will be no more hilarious impressions of his friend Maria Sharapova's serve, of his rival Andy Roddick's twitches, and especially of his locker room nemesis Roger Federer flicking his hair or clapping his racket in celebration.

"I'm in the transition," Djokovic told FOXSports.com. "It's not easy because I'm very emotional. Some things really hurt me, and maybe I express myself a little bit too much — people didn't get used to that. But at the end of the day, you sit and think to yourself, 'I've reacted the way I felt that's right.' Maybe it's wrong, but you learn from your mistakes. That's why life is testing us all the time."

The third seed at this week's Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Djokovic has gone from being the tour's boy wonder after winning his first Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open to the most vulnerable member of the sport's so-called Big 4, which also includes Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

Since winning his first major, Djokovic has been a trademark up-and-down player. After winning the 2008 Indian Wells title, he could surely claim the unofficial moniker of best player of the first quarter of last season, and the relentless baseliner looked like he might be prepared to knock Federer and Nadal out of the two top spots.

But then he began to wear down, partly due to the tremendous pressure he put on himself to snag the No. 1 ranking. A title run at the Rome Masters Series was followed by a brutal loss to Nadal at Roland Garros, which was followed by an upset at the hands of Marat Safin at Wimbledon. Then Nadal stepped on him again in a terrific Olympic semifinal.

Nearly spent but still determined, the Serbian reached the U.S. Open semifinals, but after confronting a vocal nighttime crowd after his quarterfinal victory over Roddick in the quarters, he didn't have the will to defeat Federer again and was buried.

Before his match against Djokovic, Roddick had been asked about his foe's latest injury. By that time, Djokovic had developed a reputation for retiring too frequently, and the American wondered in a joking manner if his foe might have the "bird flu or SARS."

The comments received tremendous publicity and got right back to Djokovic, who was enraged. After he won the quarterfinal, he went right at the crowd and boos reigned down upon him.

"Maybe the experience from the U.S. Open with Andy was something that I really didn't wish for and really didn't look for," Djokovic said. "But it hurt me. His comments hurt me in that moment, and it was a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, there was a lot at stake; it was the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, lot of emotions, lot of frustrations going on.

"At the end of the day, maybe if you could turn back things, maybe you wouldn't do something like that, but I just felt emotion in that moment."

Even before he won his first major, he was criticized for saying that the then untouchable Federer was vulnerable. His parents, father Srdjan and mother Dijana, were said to be too enthusiastic while watching their son courtside. Last year, an irritated Federer even hushed them during a match in Monte Carlo.

Then there were the impersonations, the wildly entertaining, near perfect ones that had the crowds in stitches. But some top players weren't pleased, especially Federer. And when Roger talks, people listen.

"It's not just players," Djokovic said. "It was a lot of speculation, and I just didn't like the fact that people thought I'm doing that to make fun of somebody. ... I don't blame anybody, but it's all in the circle of positive, and laughing and smiling and enjoying life.

"I don't want to do it more because I don't want to create unbalance and turn the people against me for no reason. I'm really in a good relationship with most of the players on tour. I'm an honest guy, I open up and I say what I need to say. And this is the philosophy of my life — be what you are."

Unfortunately, some other things were beyond his control. There was the conclusion of Djokovic's extraordinary Australian Open title run, which included a remarkable upset of Federer in the semifinals and beatdown of big Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final.

A couple of hours after that match, Dijana was approached by FOXSports.com and, full of celebratory fervor, issued a line in reference to Federer that still haunts her son to this day: "The king is dead. Long live the new king."

When reminded of the comment, Novak spoke of his mom's honesty and openness. "I think you can see that in me as well. You can see the connection."

But outright honesty and a win-at-all-costs attitude can be costly, which is why Djokovic is still trying to fashion a personality that will allow him to be liked on court and off.

After the U.S. Open fiasco, Djokovic scraped for much of the fall, but he finally picked himself off the canvas and won the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Then came his Australian Open title defense and his body failed him miserably, as he retired in the quarters against Roddick due to heat exhaustion when many felt he should have been able to play on. He won the Dubai title, but last week at Indian Wells, he fell to Roddick again, admitting he played miserably.

At this point, going up against America's top player in the U.S. appears too much for him, not because Roddick has a larger skill set, but because Djokovic has essentially psyched himself out, thinking that crowd is out to get him.

Djokovic is certainly good enough to eventually grab the No. 1 ranking and win more Slams. He's a tremendous defensive player who is capable of going on the offensive when his foes least expect it. When his head is in matches, he's a master of point construction. He's extremely fast and sturdy and has improved his first serve and volleys a great deal.

But if he's unable to successfully negotiate a personal transition that he's comfortable with, he may never achieve his goals.

"Everybody is different," he said. "It depends from which part of the world you are coming. I've been through some things that people never will, probably. I came from a country which is going through a lot of tough times — wars. I'm going to say to myself, 'Look, maybe these things were meant to be, and these things help me know to appreciate the life much more. I know that being positive and enjoying the life is something that I think everybody wishes for."

En Français bordel de merde. En Français.