Novak Djokovic, Yokozuna

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Novak Djokovic established himself as the leading force in mens' tennis, driving Rafael Nadal off the Wimbledon center court 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Djokovic played fabulous tennis at times, especially in the second set, when he outplayed, outthought and outmuscled Nadal (!) from the baseline (!) with unbelievable ease. With the exception of a weaker interlude in the third set, Djokovic was clearly the dominant man on the court.

Dominating the game is what is expected from a Yokozuna (=Grand Champion), and a Yokozuna Djokovic is now: the 16th male Yokozuna of the open era, owing to a series WIN AO11 - SF FO11 - WIN WB 11. Djokovic joins the illustre company of Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Jimmy Connors, John Newcombe, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.

In the (almost) four years prior to making it to Yokozuna, Djokovic was a highly consistent Ozeki (=Champion), a rank he had gained at the US Open 2007 when he reached his first grand slam final, then losing in straight sets to Roger Federer. Djokovic never gave up Ozeki rank in 15 slams and gradually closed the gap to the intimidatingly dominant Yokozuna duopoly of Federer and Nadal. In the past 10 months or so Djokovic made his final push. In the final of the 2010 US Open he looked competitive with but still clearly inferior to a Rafael Nadal at the peak of his game. This time roles were reversed.

With his third grand slam title Djokovic also edges forward in our open era rankings. He is now #17 on the list - behind Guillermo Vilas, but overtaking Arthur Ashe and Ilie Nastase. Compare this to #31 at end-2010. Rafael Nadal remains #6, Roger Federer #2.

The state of the mens' game is such that behind the three Yokozuna there is steady Ozeki Andy Murray, who made his third consecutive Wimbledon semifinal, and afterwards - not very much. Well, seemingly. Ex-Sekiwake Robin Soderling and ex-Ozeki Tomas Berdych (now a Sekiwake, i.e., Junior Champion I) had their moments in the past few years but have fallen back recently. Ex-Sekiwake Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - now a Komusubi (Junior Champion II) - produces occasional sparkles of brilliance, but lacks the consistency to seriously challenge the big 3 (or 4).

But then, ex-Ozeki Juan Martin del Potro is on the comeback trail and has impressed at both Roland Garros (where he lost to Djokovic, but only after a fight) and Wimbledon (to Nadal, dito). He may get the results back soon. And during this tournament a young man named Bernard Tomic - Australian, German born, of Croatian decent - caught the tennis world's attention by dominating Soderling in the third round, and then in the quarterfinals giving Djokovic more to think than maybe any other opponent.

These are interesting times for mens' tennis. And for now they are the times of the new Yokozuna Novak Djokovic.

Here are the men's sanyaku (=championship) ranks following the 2011 Wimbledon Championships:

Men

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Y	Rafael Nadal	Y1	Roger Federer	Y
Y	Novak Djokovic	Y2	-	-
O	Andy Murray	O	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
O	Tomas Berdych	S	-	-
S	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	K	-	-

1/ Highest sanyaku rank achieved in a player's career
* Kadoban