Talk about no-brainers. Let’s start with the numbers, because in this case they don’t lie: three Grand Slams, a record five Masters titles, a 41-match win streak to begin the year, a 70-6 overall record, and most impressive of all, a 10-1 mark against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Oh, and two of those wins over Nadal were in Masters finals, on clay, in straight sets. That was something no one saw coming.
Djokovic won on all surfaces and in all ways. He won by playing percentage tennis, by making, as his most famous tormentee, Nadal, said, “one more ball.” He won by making defense as dazzling as the most high-flying offense. In fact, with his skidding backhand gets in the corners, he made defense itself seem high-flying. But he also won by taking risks, the most famous of which kept him in a U.S. Open semifinal that he eventually won. He played what he called the best grass-court match of his life, in the final at Wimbledon. But he also won when he was exhausted and didn’t have to win, in his classic semifinal with Andy Murray in Rome.
A player for all seasons and tournaments, Djokovic tamed the frustration that used to get to him, and made himself the tour’s most consistent player, from shot to shot, match to match, and tournament to tournament. Wins led to more wins, as they do for most players, but that’s not all it was for Djokovic in 2011. In the semifinals of the French Open, he took what may have been the toughest loss of his career, to Federer—“It hurts so bad to lose,” Djokovic said afterward. What did he do then? He went to Wimbledon two weeks later, and won again.
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