US Open 2013: Time for Novak to play the ‘Djoker’ card

Novak Djokovic celebrating during his quarter-final victory against Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny (Getty Images)

We are into the final few days of the last Grand Slam of the 2013 calendar, the men’s semi-finals line-up is complete and two of the men in the final four are faces that we have come to expect on a regular basis.

Novak Djokovic lines up against the man who gave him a real run for his money at the Australian Open, Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, while Rafael Nadal faces off against one of the most talented players on tour in Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

For World No.1 Djokovic, it is a 14th straight semi-final appearance at a Grand Slam. It is also his 7th consecutive semi-final at the hard courts of Flushing Meadows, New York. After Roger Federer, if there has been anyone who has come to dominate on the hard courts, it is the Serbian.

All of those stats have been impressive. But there remains something amiss in the world of Novak Djokovic this season. While he has held the No. 1 ranking all year, a few noticeable blows have been dealt to his armour and the slight air of invincibility around him has been punctured.

Last season, he lost to the eventual champions at both the French Open and Wimbledon – Nadal and Federer respectively – but triumphed at the Australian and probably should have done likewise at the US Open, where he let Andy Murray get the better of him in the decider, en route to claiming his maiden Grand Slam title.

Djokovic has been the top player in the world all season, yet, coming into every Slam another player has been the talk of town. In Melbourne, Murray was the most talked about player, coming off his first ever Grand Slam triumph. So too was Nadal, through his absence. The Serb was the eventual winner, but it probably did not gain as much attention as it should have, by virtue of it being his fourth Aussie Open crown.

Going into Roland Garros, it was ‘Rafa’ season all over again and rightfully so. The Spaniard was on a tear, in scintillating form since coming back from his injury, and gobbling up the vast majority of tournaments that he partook in. Djokovic, though, was the player to beat, a fact that even Nadal knew very well, and it was epitomised in their marathon semi-final clash on the red clay of Paris.

Wimbledon and the grass court season saw Murray’s name on everyone’s lips. It was all about whether Murray could finally end 77 years of British hurt and go one better than he did last season where he finished runner-up to Federer. So much so, you wondered if anyone else winning it would have mattered at all. The Serb made the final, true to his billing, and in a very unusual manner caved in to the local hero in straight sets.

And with the US Open, all the talk continued to remain about Nadal and his hot-streak and how Murray would deal with having to come into a Grand Slam as the defending champion for the first time in his career.

It was as if the world forgot about the No.1 player completely!

Throw in the few early exits on tour and some surprising losses in major finals, and it makes for an indifferent season and a drop in the Serbian’s aura of invincibility. World No. 1’s are of course not meant to be unbeatable, but it is the manner of the defeats that the Serb has suffered that has been most surprising to the watching public.