Dubai // Last summer, Andy Roddick, a BBC pundit for the Wimbledon fortnight, was asked why he retired from the game at the age of 30.
“That’s why I retired,” the American, a former world No 1, replied. “I was up 5-4 [in my career series] on Novak [Djokovic].”
Roddick, known for his quick-fire humour, definitely said that in jest, but the fact is, that head-to-head record against Novak Djokovic, who celebrated his 700th win on the ATP World Tour on Thursday night, puts the 2003 US Open champion in rare company.
He is just one of two former ATP No 1s – the other being maverick Russian Marat Safin (2-0) – to boast a winning record against the Serb.
Carlos Moya, like Roddick and Safin, was fortunate to play Djokovic when he was not really at his peak and the Spaniard finished his career with a 2-2 record against the Serb.
But the rest, including two of the greatest No 1s the sport has seen, Roger Federer (23-22) and Rafael Nadal (24-23), trail the irrepressible Serb in head-to-head.
Among the other players to hold the No 1 ranking, Djokovic is 6-1 against Lleyton Hewitt and 2-1 against Juan Carlos Ferrero, which means the Serb is 61-56 in his career against opponents who have been to the peak of the ATP rankings.
If you put that stat into the larger context, virtually every 11th of his 700 wins has come against an opponent who has been ranked No 1 in his career.
Delve further and you will find that more than 32 per cent of those wins (227) have come against players who have been ranked No 5 or higher in their careers.
Even against the best of his peers, the members of what we call the Big Five club, he has a winning percentage of 60 (88-58).
Those stats look really impressive today, but about seven years ago, Djokovic was in danger of becoming tennis’ great unfulfilled talent due to his many health issues and, of course, mental frailties.
"The first player that breaks down is most likely to lose a big match in pressure moments," Djokovic said at the start of the week here at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, as he talked about how he has built his mental fortitude over the years.
“I was that player for sometime, of course, but I managed to learn and believe that I can improve and I, of course, owe a great gratitude to people for surrounding me and also helping me build my mental strength.”
Djokovic, of course, does not take that mental strength of granted.
He has a “daily programme” to help him “maintain that level of concentration and strength”, and the routine is obviously paying rich dividends.
Ten of his 11 grand slam titles have come since the start of 2011, and he has won five of the last seven majors to climb up the charts of the sport’s legends.
Now, with his 6-1, 6-2 win over Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri, he has become only the 12th male in the Open era to record 700 Tour wins. The list includes his coach Boris Becker (713) and only two current players – Federer (1,067) and Nadal (775).
There are two other milestones on the horizon and Djokovic, if he plays to form, should achieve them by the end of this week.
Starting with the 2015 Australian Open, the Djoker has played 17 consecutive finals and if reaches another this weekend in Dubai, he will equal Ivan Lendl’s 1981-82 record of consecutive finals.
And if he wins his fifth Dubai crown, the Serb will join Lendl, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg at the top of the list with most titles in a row.
Djokovic has won seven on the trot. Can anyone stop him from extending that record? Difficult to see that happening, especially with Roger Federer not in the draw this week.
arizvi@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @NatSportUAE
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
|
1.
|
United States
|
|
2.
|
China
|
|
3.
|
UAE
|
|
4.
|
Japan
|
|
5
|
Norway
|
|
6.
|
Canada
|
|
7.
|
Singapore
|
|
8.
|
Australia
|
|
9.
|
Saudi Arabia
|
|
10.
|
South Korea
|
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
