Yardbarker: Novak Djokovic

TSONGA! Jo Wilfred Tsonga d. Djerkovic to Earn First Title!!!

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:43:29 -0500

Tsonga has rebounded from injury very well, crushing compatriot Gael Monfils in the Bangkok semi's, and then defeating Novak Djokovic in the Bangkok final. This is Tsonga's first career title, and it's all the sweeter not only because he defeated the world No. 3 and reigning Bronze medalist, but moreso because Tsonga was able to reverse the Australian Open result, where he lost to Djokovic in a competitive four set match. Tsonga has been looking GREAT since coming off surgery: http://kthanxbye.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/who-wears-short-shorts/ Tsonga started the year with wins over Murray and Nadal at the Australian Open, then playing Nadal very closely, albeit in a losing effort at Indian Wells. Here's to hoping Tsonga competes just as well in 2009!

Watch Out, Here Comes Another Djokovic!

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:23:51 -0500

They say that of the 3 Djokovic brothers, the youngest one, Djordje Djokovic, is the best. Novak already won the Aussie Open this year and now the middle brother, 17-year-old Marko Djokovic, "will make his ATP debut in Bangkok this week after receiving a wild card into the main draw of the Thailand Open." Novak, or "Nole" as he's called, and Marko will play doubles in Thailand against Frenchmen Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro and JDubz Tsonga in the first round. Marko's only ranked No. 1734 so he's got a ways to go to catch up to big brother, who's #3.

The latest ATP world rankings (as of September 8, 2008)

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:04:12 -0500

News: Rank Name Nationality Integral the ranking last time 1 Rafael Nadal Spain 7000.00 1 2 Roger Federer Switzerland 5930.00 2 3 Novak Djokovic Serbia 4855.00 3 4 Andy Murray United Kingdom 3040.00 6 5 David Ferrer Spain 2490.00 4 6 Nikolay Davydenko Russia 2400.00 5 7 David Nalbandian Argentina 1975.00 7 8 Andy Roddick United States 1845.00 8 9 Fernando Gonzalez Chile 1760.00 11 10 Stanislas Wawrinka Switzerland 1670.00 10 Diary: After learning for five days, I finally have 3 three days for Mid-Autumn Festival. That sounds great. But I'm sure that I don't have time to have a good rest because of the homework. That sounds terrible. I need to relax & take it easy. At least I can sleep well. Culture: Let me tell you something about Mid-Autumn Festival: The Mid-Autumn is a very important Chinese festival. It falls on the 15th day of August. A few days before the festival, everyone in the family will help to make the house clean and beautiful. Lanterns will be hung in front of the house. On the evening there will be a big family dinner. People who work far away from their homes will try to come back for the union. After dinner, people will light the lanterns which are usually red and round. Children will play with their own toy lanterns happily. At night the moon is usually round and bright. People can enjoy the moon while eating moon-cakes which are the special food for this festival. They can look back on the past and look forward to the future together. It is said that there was a dragon in the sky. The dragon wanted to swallow up the moon. To protect the frighten the dragon away. Picture: Roger Federer Yang, in Beijing

Exciting Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic highlights to pass the downtime

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:54:20 -0500

2008 US OPEN : As you all know already, due to weather conditions, Roger Federer will be playing his final match on Monday, not Sunday. He will play the winner of Nadal vs. Murray. Why not pass the downtime watching these highlights, featuring a ridiculous slice-lob in the third?

Fresh baked US Open Highlights - Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic (semifinals)

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:46:22 -0500

Novak Djokovic's marvelous run through the 2008 US Open drew to a close, as "The Master" Roger Federer showed who's the boss. After decisively losing the first set, Djokovic won a hard fought second set. But in Set 3, it was Federer who won the gritty battle, and he proceeded to easily put away Djokovic in the fourth. Here are highlights from Sets 2-4 of Federer vs. Djokovic, courtesy of Eurosport.

Video - US Open Highlights - Novak Djokovic vs. Andy Roddick (Day 11)

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:49:12 -0500

In a clash between two guys on a hot streak, Novak Djokovic had Andy Roddick's number, beating him 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.

Vince Young Now Selling Sausages

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:10:47 -0500

What is the deal with NFL quarterbacks participating in ads to pitch phallic-shaped meats? First Carson Palmer, now Vince Young? Vince Young wants to sell you his sausage [Sports by Brooks] Best gift ever? You can rent a USC Song Girl [Deadspin] Michael Jackson teaches Michael Jordan how to dance [You Been Blinded] Novak Djokovic [...]

U mad cuz Djokovic styled on Roddick?

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:27:52 -0500

If you are following the US Open at all, chances are you caught the Novak Djokovic on-court interview post his 4-set takedown of American fan-favorite, Andy Roddick.

While I agree that his words may have been in poor taste, I can't see where people like

Djokovic gets booed mercilessly at U.S. Open

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:23:27 -0500

Apparently there is some kind of feud going on in the tennis world. Roddick and Djokovic. Sounds like the intro for a eastern european gay version of batman and robin.

U.S. Open Singles Semifinals Breakdown

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:28:43 -0500

This year's U.S. Open has already yielded many spectacular matches, and there's still three days left of play. After 25 years of coverage on the USA Network (ESPN and the Tennis Channel will pick up the rights next year), the athletes are providing a worthy sendoff. We've already seen an epic showdown between the Williams sisters and a grueling five-setter from Novak Djokovic and Tommy Robredo. However, unranked or low-seeded players have given the likes of Rafael Nadal and Dinara Safina a run for their money. Below I've previewed both the men's and women's semifinal matches, which will begin tomorrow. Women Dinara Safina RUS (6) vs. Serena Williams USA (4) The spotlight has always just missed Dinara Safina. Though the 22-year-old has won a Grand Slam doubles title, a singles championship has always eluded her. Also, it doesn't help that she's the little sister of 2000 U.S. Open men's champion, Marat Safin. Safina lost to Ana Ivanovic in this year's French Open final and earned the silver medal in Beijing. Unfortunately, two-time U.S. Open women's champion Serena Williams now stands in her way. After losing to Venus at Wimbledon, the sisters put on a phenomenal show last night at Flushing Meadows, with Serena emerging the victor. Given Safina's emotionality on the court and her focused desire to win the same championship as her brother, tomorrow's match is a must-see.

Federer and Djokovic Move on - Yardbarker Reppin at the U.S Open

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:29:30 -0500

Kinetic here reppin Yardbarker at the U.S Open in New York! Had my girlfriend and friends wear the Yardbarker t-shirt and hat, and we went around enjoying the tournament and talking to all sorts of people about Yardbarker. Strangely, i was only asked once about what yardbarker was, while all the girls in the group were asked many times. We watched the Djokovic vs. Robredo match at Arthur Ashe today, and it was quite an amazing game. Robredo is a quick player who really moves around the court. He rarely every let a ball get past him without getting a firm set of strings on it first. Djokovic started the first set with a loss, but a very sportsmanship move. Robredo was at set point for the first set, and hit a huge serve to the outside. The ref called the serve out, but Djokovic believed it was an ace and gave the point away. Huge sportsmanship like move, and huge props to him. His challenges were usually only when it's REALLY close, and more times than not he got the challenge correct. Robredo put up a huge fight, and Djokovic more than once gave him huge props. After that game, Federer played against Andreev in another crazy 5 set game. Federer was destroyed in the first match easily, and Andreev started making huge plays. Federer had a lot of unforced errors, everyone seemed a bit disappointed. After the first two long matches with tie breakers, seems like Federer finally woke up, but when he woke up Andreev kicked his game into high gear. They battled it out, and in the last 5th set, Federer pushed forward hard and Andreev lost a little steam. Federer to win it 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. So after like 5 coats of sunblock, and 6 bottles of water, I'm back in Long Island blogging about the great event / toaster oven. Here's a picture of a yardbarker hat in the stadium =)

Roddick roars through to 4th round

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 03:48:55 -0500

Andy Roddick qualified for the round of 16 at the 2008 US open on Sunday, defeating Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (4). Roddick's performance was punctuated by verbal outbursts as he struggled to put down Seppi's challenge in front of a partisan home crowd, eventually overwhelming the Italian in a third set tiebreaker.

Maybe it's better for Djokovich to be a comedian?????

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:40:13 -0500

Murray loves the buzz at US Open

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:15:04 -0500

After failing to secure a medal at the Olympics, Murray is keen to build on his recent victory at the Cincinnati Masters