Mutua Madrid Open, Spain

Men’s Final: [1] Novak Djokovic vs. [2] Andy Murray (GBR)

There was the Pete Sampras era; the Roger Federer era; the Rafael Nadal era; and now this is the Novak Djokovic era.  He seems invincible as did the previous players who were dominant during their respective era; however, their reign eventually came to an end.

What makes a player dominant?  Winning breeds confidence and the more you win, the more you will win.  When you believe you can’t lose, more than likely you won’t lose.  Djokovic may be the best mover I have ever seen and that gives him an incredible advantage on every surface.  He has an incredible high tennis intelligence quotient, which allows him to understand the geometry of the tennis court and use it to his advantage. He is also quite flexible and that allows him to contort his body into some extreme positions to get to the ball and his physical strength is immense because he can generate a lot of pace from what to many would be awkward positions. The aura of invincibility that comes with winning gives him an added edge whenever he steps on court.

He is vulnerable though and we saw that today when he struggled to close out the match; however, he perhaps more than any player I have watched over the years is very gifted at shoving aside his disappointment and coming back more focused.  Murray had his chances, but like so many players who win a set from Djokovic, you have to keep applying the pressure or he will rebound and defeat you.  Murray could not and lost his title as a result. Djokovic won 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 and for now his dominance continues as no one seems able to stop him.