We have all oooed and ahhhed at Nole's recent streak- people in the tennis world are already screaming, "Long live the king, long live King Novak Djokovic the first!"
He has remained undefeated in 2011 and apparently adopted a new diet of the gluten-free variety. The numbers are shocking 41-0 in 2011, 43rd consecutive victory going back to the Davis Cup final in December in Belgrade, Serbia, and is actually 48-0 counting the Hopman Cup. He is moments away from breaking J-Mac's record.
Now he is in the semifinals of Roland Garros where he will play either Roger Federer or Gael Monfils(my bets are on Fed) and he will be plenty rested for it. His third semifinal at the French Open.
Question is: How did he get there when I recall that his nickname used to be "Djoker, the Choker," last year?
I have noticed some suspicious activity.... call me a conspiracy theorist if you must but I think with the way he has been playing and the amount of forfeited matches he has been receiving is all too lucky.
At the French Open, alone, he moved on to the round of 32 after his opponent Romanian Victor Hanescu withdrew and he moved past the quarterfinals without having to step a foot on court against Italian Fabio Fognini when he retired. Granted... he would have likely beaten both of them easily especially considering they were supposedly "injured."
I saw the matches and saw the injuries....very convincing....BUT what's a little acting cost if you are being offered a huge amount of money that you aren't likely to earn playing tennis. What would be your price?
Okay, so in 2011, he has received five total withdrawals/retirements.
Withdrawals: 2
One from Fognini in Paris and one from fellow Serbian Janko Tipsarevic at the Belgrade Open semifinals.
Retirements: 3
One from Hanescu in the round of 64 at Roland Garros, one from Czech Tomas Berdych in the semifinals of Dubai, and fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki at the round of 32 at the Australian Open.
All opponents are Eastern European (Italy is more South East). On top of that he got a night's rest before playing Juan Martin Del Potro after the match had to be suspended.
Those are the facts! In contrast, Rafael Nadal has received one withdrawal (Delpo in R16 at Madrid) and one retirement(Marcos Daniel in R128 at Aus. Open). Roger Federer has one retirement(Gilles Simon in Miami quarterfinals).
Please don't get me started on my suspicions of the diet..... Aren't carbs and sugars needed on court for energy? Where is he getting that energy? What happened to "Wheaties" being the meal for champions and having the top sports stars all over the cereal box? No one can deny his amazing agility, power, and speed on court.
WELL thanks for reading and I hope it made you think! I am not trying to prove anything or besmirch Djokovic's name but simply bringing up some questions/facts because the legends would not be legends if someone didn't question them.
Are you a doubter, too? Or do you believe Nole is clean and plain lucky?
Photo Credit: ALEXANDER KLEIN/AFP/Getty Image, Alex Livesey/Getty Images